Quantum-Chemistry Study of the Photophysical Properties of 4-Thiouracil and Comparisons with 2-Thiouracil.

DNA in living beings is constantly damaged by exogenous and endogenous agents. However, in some cases, DNA photodamage can have interesting applications, as it happens in photodynamic therapy. In this work, the current knowledge on the photophysics of 4-thiouracil has been extended by further quantum-chemistry studies to improve the agreement between theory and experiments, to better understand the differences with 2-thiouracil, and, last but not least, to verify its usefulness as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy. This study has been carried out by determining the most favorable deactivation paths of UV-vis photoexcited 4-thiouracil by means of the photochemical reaction path approach and an efficient combination of the complete-active-space second-order perturbation theory//complete-active-space self-consistent field (CASPT2//CASSCF), (CASPT2//CASPT2), time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), and spin-flip TDDFT (SF-TDDFT) methodologies. By comparing the data computed herein for both 4-thiouracil and 2-thiouracil, a rationale is provided on the relatively higher yields of intersystem crossing, triplet lifetime and singlet oxygen production of 4-thiouracil, and the relatively higher yield of phosphorescence of 2-thiouracil.

XMS-CASPT2//XMS-CASPT2 and XMS-CASPT2//CASSCF at comparison: The impact of dynamic correlation in the excited state optimization of nitronaphthalene.

Here, analytical extended multi-state complete active space second-order perturbation method (XMS-CASPT2) gradients are used to rationalize the decreasing triplet quantum yield trend in 2-nitronaphthalene, 1-nitronaphthalene, and 2-methyl-1-nitronaphthalene, a series of nitro-substituted aromatic compounds. Comparison with the XMS-CASPT2//CASSCF (where CASSCF stands for complete active space self-consistent field method) results highlights the importance of dynamic correlation in geometry optimization and challenges the validity of an XMS-CASPT2//CASSCF approach: XMS-CASPT2 S1 minima leads to planar structures, while CASSCF optimizations trigger a pyramidalization of the nitro group. The XMS-CASPT2 results correlate the reported decreasing triplet quantum yield trend in these species to a decrease in S1 to T2 population transfer and an increase in S1-S0 decay, while no such correlation is observed when using XMS-CASPT2//CASSCF data.

On the photorelease of nitric oxide by nitrobenzene derivatives: A CASPT2//CASSCF model.

Nitroaromatic compounds can photorelease nitric oxide after UV absorption. The efficiency of the photoreaction depends on the molecular structure, and two features have been pointed out as particularly important for the yield of the process: the presence of methyl groups at the ortho position with respect to the nitro group and the degree of conjugation of the molecule. In this paper, we provide a theoretical characterization at the CASPT2//CASSCF (complete active space second-order perturbation theory//complete active space self-consistent field) level of theory of the photorelease of NO for four molecules derived from nitrobenzene through the addition of ortho methyl groups and/or the elongation of the conjugation. Our previously described mechanism obtained for the photorelease of NO in nitrobenzene has been adopted as a model for the process. According to this model, the process proceeds through a reactive singlet-triplet crossing (STC) region that the system can reach from the triplet 3(πOπ*) minimum. The energy barrier that must be surmounted in order to populate the reactive STC can be associated with the efficiency of the photoreaction. Here, the obtained results display clear differences in the efficiency of the photoreaction in the studied systems and can be correlated with experimental results. Thus, the model proves its ability to highlight the differences in the photoreaction efficiency for the nitroaromatic compounds studied here.

Building a Functionalizable, Potent Chemiluminescent Agent: A Rational Design Study on 6,8-Substituted Luminol Derivatives.

Luminol is a prominent chemiluminescent (CL) agent, finding applications across numerous fields, including forensics, immunoassays, and imaging. Different substitution patterns on the aromatic ring can enhance or decrease its CL efficiency. We herein report a systematic study on the synthesis and photophysics of all possible 6,8-disubstituted luminol derivatives bearing H, Ph, and/or Me substituents. Their CL responses are monitored at three pH values (8, 10, and 12), thus revealing the architecture with the optimum CL efficiency. The most efficient pattern is used for the synthesis of a strongly CL luminol derivative, bearing a functional group for further, straightforward derivatization. This adduct exhibits an unprecedented increase in chemiluminescence efficiency at pH = 12, pH = 10, and especially at pH = 8 (closer to the biologically relevant conditions) compared to luminol. Complementary work on the fluorescence of the emissive species as well as quantum chemistry computations are employed for the rationalization of the observed results.

On the Importance of Ligand-Centered Excited States in the Emission of Cyclometalated Ir(III) Complexes.

The photophysical behavior of the cyclometalating Ir(III) complexes [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]+, where Hppy is 2-phenylpyridine and bpy is 2,2'-bipyridine (complex 1), and [Ir(diFppy)2(dtb-bpy)]+, where diFppy is 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine and dtb-bpy is 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine (complex 2), has been theoretically investigated by performing density functional theory calculations. The two complexes share the same molecular skeleton, complex 2 being derived from complex 1 through the addition of fluoro and tert-butyl substituents, but present notable differences in their photophysical properties. The remarkable difference in their emission quantum yields (0.196 for complex 1 in dichloromethane and 0.71 for complex 2 in acetonitrile) has been evaluated by characterizing both radiative and nonradiative decay paths. It has emerged that the probability of decaying through the nonradiative triplet metal-centered state, normally associated with the loss of the emission quantum yield, does not appear to be the reason behind the reported substantially different emission efficiency. A more critical factor appears to be the ability of complex 2 to emit from both the usual metal-to-ligand charge-transfer state and from two additional ligand-centered states, as supported by the fact that the respective minima belong to the potential energy surface of the lowest triplet T1 state and that their phosphorescence lifetimes are in the same order of magnitude. In contrast, the emission of complex 1 can be originated only from the metal-to-ligand charge-transfer state, being the only emissive T1 minimum. The results constitute a significant case in which the emission from ligand-centered states is the key for determining the high emission quantum yield of a complex.

How important is roaming in the photodegradation of nitrobenzene?

At low excitation energies nitrobenzene photoreleases NO with low translational and rotational energy, while at higher excitation energies NO is photoreleased with both low and high translational and rotational energy. The fast products are formed through a singlet-triplet crossing (STC) region featuring an oxaziridine ring, while a ground state roaming mechanism was suggested to produce the slow molecules. Computing translational and rotational energies performing CASSCF classical dynamics, we here prove how the same oxaziridine STC can account for both fast and slow photoproducts, depending on the region of the seam through which the ground state is populated. A roaming-type STC/CI has also been characterized, from which slow NO molecules can also be formed through a roaming photodegradation mechanism, here in the excited state. The higher accessibility of the oxaziridine STC mechanism, 1.53 eV lower in energy than the roaming path, questions the contribution of roaming in nitrobenzene NO photoproduction.

On the chemiluminescence emission of luminol: protic and aprotic solvents and encapsulation to improve the properties in aqueous solution.

Luminol is a popular molecule that is currently gaining further interest due to its potential role for non-invasive cancer treatments. Design of more efficient derivatives in this context would benefit from a clear knowledge on the origin of the distinct intensity and spectroscopic properties in protic and aprotic solvents observed experimentally, which are still not rationalized. By efficiently combining molecular dynamics, quantum methodologies based on density functional theory and multiconfigurational quantum chemistry and hybrid approaches, and developing herein a computational approach for accurately determining "molar negative extinction (or gain) coefficients of emission", we firstly demonstrate that the amino and imino forms of the 3-aminophthalate dianion are responsible for the chemiluminescence in protic and aprotic medium, respectively. Secondly, we show that the coupling between the adjacent amino and carboxylate groups of luminol existing in aprotic solvents must be kept in aqueous solution to increase the chemiexcitation and emission intensity. Thirdly, modifications of luminol are proposed and simulated showing improved performances as compared to the parent molecule (stronger emission electronic transition and longer emission wavelengths) under the physiological conditions of relevance in biological and medical applications.

Regiochemical memory in the adiabatic photolysis of thymine-derived oxetanes. A combined ultrafast spectroscopic and CASSCF/CASPT2 computational study.

The photoinduced cycloreversion of oxetanes has been thoroughly investigated in connection with the photorepair of the well-known DNA (6-4) photoproducts. In the present work, the direct photolysis of the two regioisomers arising from the irradiation of benzophenone (BP) and 1,3-dimethylthymine (DMT), namely the head-to-head (HH-1) and head-to-tail (HT-1) oxetane adducts, has been investigated by combining ultrafast spectroscopy and theoretical multiconfigurational quantum chemistry analysis. Both the experimental and computational results agree with the involvement of an excited triplet exciplex 3[BPDMT]* for the photoinduced oxetane cleavage to generate 3BP* and DMT through an adiabatic photochemical reaction. The experimental signature of 3[BPDMT]* is the appearance of an absorption band at ca. 400 nm, detected by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Its formation is markedly regioselective, as it is more efficient and proceeds faster for HH-1 (∼2.8 ps) than for HT-1 (∼6.3 ps). This is in line with the theoretical analysis, which predicts an energy barrier to reach the triplet exciplex for HT-1, in contrast with a less hindered profile for HH-1. Finally, the more favorable adiabatic cycloreversion of HH-1 compared to that of HT-1 is explained by its lower probability to reach the intersystem crossing with the ground state, which would induce a radiationless deactivation process leading either to a starting adduct or to a dissociated BP and DMT.

Molecular Basis of the Chemiluminescence Mechanism of Luminol.

Light emission from luminol is probably one of the most popular chemiluminescence reactions due to its use in forensic science, and has recently displayed promising applications for the treatment of cancer in deep tissues. The mechanism is, however, very complex and distinct possibilities have been proposed. By efficiently combining DFT and CASPT2 methodologies, the chemiluminescence mechanism has been studied in three steps: 1) luminol oxygenation to generate the chemiluminophore, 2) a chemiexcitation step, and 3) generation of the light emitter. The findings demonstrate that the luminol double-deprotonated dianion activates molecular oxygen, diazaquinone is not formed, and the chemiluminophore is formed through the concerted addition of oxygen and concerted elimination of nitrogen. The peroxide bond, in comparison to other isoelectronic chemical functionalities (-NH-NH-, -N- -N- -, and -S-S-), is found to have the best chemiexcitation efficiency, which allows the oxygenation requirement to be rationalized and establishes general design principles for the chemiluminescence efficiency. Electron transfer from the aniline ring to the OO bond promotes the excitation process to create an excited state that is not the chemiluminescent species. To produce the light emitter, proton transfer between the amino and carbonyl groups must occur; this requires highly localized vibrational energy during chemiexcitation.

Similar chemical structures, dissimilar triplet quantum yields: a CASPT2 model rationalizing the trend of triplet quantum yields in nitroaromatic systems.

The photophysics of nitroaromatic compounds is characterized by an ultrafast decay into the triplet manifold and by significant triplet quantum yields. The latter quantity changes drastically depending on the system, as shown for 2-nitronaphthalene, 1-nitronaphthalene, and 2-methyl-1-nitronaphthalene, whose triplet quantum yields have been previously measured to be 0.93 ± 0.15, 0.64 ± 0.12, and 0.33 ± 0.05, respectively (J. Phys. Chem. A, 2013, 117, 14100). In this study, we rationalize the reported trend of the triplet quantum yield on the basis of the different abilities of the excited S1 state to reach a previously unreported conical intersection with the ground state. This path is in competition with the path leading to the triplet state, which appears to be equally favorable in the three systems. The energy barriers from the S1 CASPT2//CASSCF minima to a CASPT2 minimum-energy-crossing-point of the S1/S0 conical intersection have been computed to follow the same trend as the triplet quantum yields of the nitroaromatic systems under analysis. The path has also been characterized for nitrobenzene; an energy barrier was obtained that nicely fits the derived model and is in agreement with its triplet quantum yield value (>0.8). The ability of the present model to not only rationalize the experimental data of a single molecule but also to reproduce a trend for four slightly different systems demonstrates its reliability.

Photoinduced formation mechanism of the thymine-thymine (6-4) adduct in DNA; a QM(CASPT2//CASSCF):MM(AMBER) study.

The UVB-induced photomechanism leading the carbonyl group of a thymine nucleobase to react with the carbon-carbon double bond of a consecutive thymine nucleobase in a DNA strand to form the thymine-thymine (6-4) photodamage adduct remains poorly understood. Key questions remain unanswered, concerning both the intrinsic features of the photoreaction (such as the contribution (or not) of triplet states, the nature of the involved states and the time-scale of the photoprocess) and the role played by the non-reactive surroundings of the two reactive pyrimidine nucleobases (such as the nature of the flanked nucleobases and the flexibility of the whole DNA molecule). A small number of theoretical studies have been carried out on the title photoreaction, most of which have used reduced model systems of DNA, consequently neglecting potential key parameters for the photoreaction such as the constraints due to the double strain structure and the presence of paired and stacked nucleobases. In the present contribution the photoactivation step of the title reaction has been studied in a DNA system, and in particular for a specific DNA hairpin for which the quantum yield of photodamage formation has been recently experimentally measured. The reaction has been characterized by carrying out high-level QM/MM computations, combining the CASPT2//CASSCF approach for the study of the reactive part (i.e. the two thymine molecules) with an MM-Amber treatment of the surrounding environment. The possibility of a reaction path along both the singlet and triplet manifolds has been characterized, the nature of the reactive states has been analyzed, and the role played by the flexibility of the whole system, which in turn determines the initial accessible geometrical conformations, has been evaluated, thus substantially contributing towards the elucidation of the photoreaction mechanism. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be observed that a charge-transfer state can decay from a pro-reactive initial structure towards a region of energy degeneracy with the ground state, from which the subsequent decay along the ground state hypersurface can lead to the photoreaction.

Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy as a tool for tracking molecular conformations in DNA/RNA aggregates.

A computational strategy to simulate two-dimensional electronic spectra (2DES) is introduced, which allows us to analyse ground state dynamics and to sample and measure different conformations attained by flexible molecular systems in solution. An explicit mixed quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) approach is employed for the evaluation of the necessary electronic excited state energies and transition dipole moments. The method is applied towards a study of the highly flexible water-solvated adenine-adenine monophosphate (ApA), a system featuring two interacting adenine moieties that display various intermolecular arrangements, known to deeply affect their photochemical outcome. Molecular dynamics simulations and cluster analysis have been used to select the molecular conformations, reducing the complexity of the flexible ApA conformational space. By using our sum-over-states (SOS) approach to obtain the 2DES spectra for each of these selected conformations, we can discern spectral changes and relate them to specific nuclear arrangements: close lying π-stacked bases exhibit a splitting of their respective 1La signal traces; T-stacked bases exhibit the appearance of charge transfer states in the low-energy Vis probing window while displaying no 1La splitting, being particularly favoured when promoting amino to 5-ring interactions; unstacked and distant adenine moieties exhibit signals similar to those of the adenine monomer, as is expected for non-interacting nucleobases. 2DES maps reveal the spectral fingerprints associated with specific molecular conformations, and are thus a promising option to enable their quantitative spectroscopic detection beyond standard 1D pump-probe techniques. This is expected to aid the understanding of how nucleobase aggregation controls and modulates the photostability and photo-damage of extended DNA/RNA systems.

Molcas 8: New capabilities for multiconfigurational quantum chemical calculations across the periodic table.

In this report, we summarize and describe the recent unique updates and additions to the Molcas quantum chemistry program suite as contained in release version 8. These updates include natural and spin orbitals for studies of magnetic properties, local and linear scaling methods for the Douglas-Kroll-Hess transformation, the generalized active space concept in MCSCF methods, a combination of multiconfigurational wave functions with density functional theory in the MC-PDFT method, additional methods for computation of magnetic properties, methods for diabatization, analytical gradients of state average complete active space SCF in association with density fitting, methods for constrained fragment optimization, large-scale parallel multireference configuration interaction including analytic gradients via the interface to the Columbus package, and approximations of the CASPT2 method to be used for computations of large systems. In addition, the report includes the description of a computational machinery for nonlinear optical spectroscopy through an interface to the QM/MM package Cobramm. Further, a module to run molecular dynamics simulations is added, two surface hopping algorithms are included to enable nonadiabatic calculations, and the DQ method for diabatization is added. Finally, we report on the subject of improvements with respects to alternative file options and parallelization.

Multiple Decay Mechanisms and 2D-UV Spectroscopic Fingerprints of Singlet Excited Solvated Adenine-Uracil Monophosphate.

The decay channels of singlet excited adenine uracil monophosphate (ApU) in water are studied with CASPT2//CASSCF:MM potential energy calculations and simulation of the 2D-UV spectroscopic fingerprints with the aim of elucidating the role of the different electronic states of the stacked conformer in the excited state dynamics. The adenine (1) La state can decay without a barrier to a conical intersection with the ground state. In contrast, the adenine (1) Lb and uracil S(U) states have minima that are separated from the intersections by sizeable barriers. Depending on the backbone conformation, the CT state can undergo inter-base hydrogen transfer and decay to the ground state through a conical intersection, or it can yield a long-lived minimum stabilized by a hydrogen bond between the two ribose rings. This suggests that the (1) Lb , S(U) and CT states of the stacked conformer may all contribute to the experimental lifetimes of 18 and 240 ps. We have also simulated the time evolution of the 2D-UV spectra and provide the specific fingerprint of each species in a recommended probe window between 25 000 and 38 000 cm(-1) in which decongested, clearly distinguishable spectra can be obtained. This is expected to allow the mechanistic scenarios to be discerned in the near future with the help of the corresponding experiments. Our results reveal the complexity of the photophysics of the relatively small ApU system, and the potential of 2D-UV spectroscopy to disentangle the photophysics of multichromophoric systems.

Excitation of nucleobases from a computational perspective I: reaction paths.

The main intrinsic photochemical events in nucleobases can be described on theoretical grounds within the realm of non-adiabatic computational photochemistry. From a static standpoint, the photochemical reaction path approach (PRPA), through the computation of the respective minimum energy path (MEP), can be regarded as the most suitable strategy in order to explore the electronically excited isolated nucleobases. Unfortunately, the PRPA does not appear widely in the studies reported in the last decade. The main ultrafast decay observed experimentally for the gas-phase excited nucleobases is related to the computed barrierless MEPs from the bright excited state connecting the initial Franck-Condon region and a conical intersection involving the ground state. At the highest level of theory currently available (CASPT2//CASPT2), the lowest excited (1)(ππ*) hypersurface for cytosine has a shallow minimum along the MEP deactivation pathway. In any case, the internal conversion processes in all the natural nucleobases are attained by means of interstate crossings, a self-protection mechanism that prevents the occurrence of photoinduced damage of nucleobases by ultraviolet radiation. Many alternative and secondary paths have been proposed in the literature, which ultimately provide a rich and constructive interplay between experimentally and theoretically oriented research.

Spectral lineshapes in nonlinear electronic spectroscopy.

We outline a computational approach for nonlinear electronic spectra, which accounts for the electronic energy fluctuations due to nuclear degrees of freedom and explicitly incorporates the fluctuations of higher excited states, induced by the dynamics in the photoactive state(s). This approach is based on mixed quantum-classical dynamics simulations. Tedious averaging over multiple trajectories is avoided by employing the linearly displaced Brownian harmonic oscillator to model the correlation functions. The present strategy couples accurate computations of the high-lying excited state manifold with dynamics simulations. The application is made to the two-dimensional electronic spectra of pyrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon characterized by an ultrafast (few tens of femtoseconds) decay from the bright S2 state to the dark S1 state. The spectra for waiting times t2 = 0 and t2 = 1 ps demonstrate the ability of this approach to model electronic state fluctuations and realistic lineshapes. Comparison with experimental spectra [Krebs et al., New Journal of Physics, 2013, 15, 085016] shows excellent agreement and allows us to unambiguously assign the excited state absorption features.

Modeling the high-energy electronic state manifold of adenine: Calibration for nonlinear electronic spectroscopy.

Pump-probe electronic spectroscopy using femtosecond laser pulses has evolved into a standard tool for tracking ultrafast excited state dynamics. Its two-dimensional (2D) counterpart is becoming an increasingly available and promising technique for resolving many of the limitations of pump-probe caused by spectral congestion. The ability to simulate pump-probe and 2D spectra from ab initio computations would allow one to link mechanistic observables like molecular motions and the making/breaking of chemical bonds to experimental observables like excited state lifetimes and quantum yields. From a theoretical standpoint, the characterization of the electronic transitions in the visible (Vis)/ultraviolet (UV), which are excited via the interaction of a molecular system with the incoming pump/probe pulses, translates into the determination of a computationally challenging number of excited states (going over 100) even for small/medium sized systems. A protocol is therefore required to evaluate the fluctuations of spectral properties like transition energies and dipole moments as a function of the computational parameters and to estimate the effect of these fluctuations on the transient spectral appearance. In the present contribution such a protocol is presented within the framework of complete and restricted active space self-consistent field theory and its second-order perturbation theory extensions. The electronic excited states of adenine have been carefully characterized through a previously presented computational recipe [Nenov et al., Comput. Theor. Chem. 1040-1041, 295-303 (2014)]. A wise reduction of the level of theory has then been performed in order to obtain a computationally less demanding approach that is still able to reproduce the characteristic features of the reference data. Foreseeing the potentiality of 2D electronic spectroscopy to track polynucleotide ground and excited state dynamics, and in particular its expected ability to provide conformational dependent fingerprints in dimeric systems, the performances of the selected reduced level of calculations have been tested in the construction of 2D electronic spectra for the in vacuo adenine monomer and the unstacked adenine homodimer, thereby exciting the Lb/La transitions with the pump pulse pair and probing in the Vis to near ultraviolet spectral window.

A First Proposal on the Nitrobenzene Photorelease Mechanism of NO2 and Its Relation to NO Formation through a Roaming Mechanism.

Despite the fact that NO2 is considered to be the main photoproduct of nitrobenzene photochemistry, no mechanism has ever been proposed to rationalize its formation. NO photorelease is instead a more studied process, probably due to its application in the drug delivery sector and the study of roaming mechanisms. In this contribution, a photoinduced mechanism accounting for the formation of NO2 in nitrobenzene is theorized based on CASPT2, CASSCF, and DFT electronic structure calculations and CASSCF classical dynamics. A triplet nπ* state is shown to evolve toward C-NO2 dissociation, being, in fact, the only low-lying excited state favoring such a deformation. Along the triplet dissociation path, the possibility to decay to the singlet ground state results in the frustration of the dissociation and in the recombination of the fragments, either back to the nitro or the nitrite isomer. The thermal decomposition of the latter to NO constitutes globally a roaming mechanism of NO formation.

Insights into the anticancer photodynamic activity of Ir(III) and Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes bearing ß-carboline ligands.

Ir(III) and Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes are promising photosensitizers (PSs) for photodynamic therapy (PDT) due to their outstanding photophysical properties. Herein, one series of cyclometallated Ir(III) complexes and two series of Ru(II) polypyridyl derivatives bearing three different thiazolyl-ß-carboline N^N' ligands have been synthesized, aiming to evaluate the impact of the different metal fragments ([Ir(C^N)2]+ or [Ru(N^N)2]2+) and N^N' ligands on the photophysical and biological properties. All the compounds exhibit remarkable photostability under blue-light irradiation and are emissive (605 < λem < 720 nm), with the Ru(II) derivatives displaying higher photoluminescence quantum yields and longer excited state lifetimes. The Ir PSs display pKa values between 5.9 and 7.9, whereas their Ru counterparts are less acidic (pKa > 9.3). The presence of the deprotonated form in the Ir-PSs favours the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) since, according to theoretical calculations, it features a low-lying ligand-centered triplet excited state (T1 = 3LC) with a long lifetime. All compounds have demonstrated anticancer activity. Ir(III) complexes 1-3 exhibit the highest cytotoxicity in dark conditions, comparable to cisplatin. Their activity is notably enhanced by blue-light irradiation, resulting in nanomolar IC50 values and phototoxicity indexes (PIs) between 70 and 201 in different cancer cell lines. The Ir(III) PSs are also activated by green (with PI between 16 and 19.2) and red light in the case of complex 3 (PI = 8.5). Their antitumor efficacy is confirmed by clonogenic assays and using spheroid models. The Ir(III) complexes rapidly enter cells, accumulating in mitochondria and lysosomes. Upon photoactivation, they generate ROS, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and lysosomal damage and ultimately cell apoptosis. Additionally, they inhibit cancer cell migration, a crucial step in metastasis. In contrast, Ru(II) complex 6 exhibits moderate mitochondrial activity. Overall, Ir(III) complexes 1-3 show potential for selective light-controlled cancer treatment, providing an alternative mechanism to chemotherapy and the ability to inhibit lethal cancer cell dissemination.