Luminescent Ir(III) complex exclusively made of polypyridine ligands capable of intercalating into calf-thimus DNA

Efficient intercalation of a luminescent Ir(III) complex exclu- sively made of polypyridine ligands in natural and synthetic biopolymers is reported for the first time. The emission of the complex is largely enhanced in the presence of [poly(dAdT)2] and strongly quenched in the presence of [poly(dGdC)2]. By comparing the emission decays in DNA and in synthetic polynucleotides, it is proposed that the emission quenching of the title compound by guanine residues in DNA is no longer effective over a distance of four dAdT base pairs.