“…The materials and reagents were used as received from the indicated commercial suppliers: N , N -dimethylformamide (DMF; Vetec, ≥99.8%), [Ru( p -cymene)Cl 2 ] 2 (Strem, 98%), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen; Strem, 99%), 4,7-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Me 2 -phen; Alfa Aesar, 98%), 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Ph 2 -phen; Vetec, 99%), 4,7-dimethoxy-1,10-phenanthroline ((MeO) 2 -phen; Aldrich, 97%), 4,7-dichloro-1,10-phenanthroline (eNovation, 97%), sodium thiocyanate (NaNCS; Merck, 98.5%), methanolic solution of tetra- n -butylammonium hydroxide (TBAOH; Sigma-Aldrich, 1.0 mol L –1 ), methanol (Synth, 99.8%), Sephadex LH-20 (Aldrich), acetonitrile (Merck, Lichrosolv), and trifluoracetic acid (TFA; Vetec, 99.8%, UV-HPLC). 2,2′-Bipyridine-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid (dcbH 2 ), cis -[Ru(R-phen)(dcbH 2 )Cl 2 ], and cis -[Ru(R-phen)(dcbH 2 )(NCS) 2 ] (R = H, Me and Ph) were available from previous studies. , …”