Claudia Turro

About

Claudia Turro is the Chair and Dr. Melvin L. Morris Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The Ohio State University. She received her B.S. with Honors in 1987 from Michigan State University, where she worked with Daniel G. Nocera and George E. Leroi, and earned her Ph.D. in 1992. She conducted postdoctoral work at Columbia University with Nicholas J. Turro from 1992 to 1995 under a Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. She has been a faculty member at Ohio State since 1996. Her research focuses on inorganic photochemistry, excited state processes, solar energy conversion, and photochemotherapy, particularly understanding and utilizing reactions of metal complexes initiated with light. Her group investigates the control and dynamics of excited states, including photophysical properties and reactivity such as energy transfer, charge separation, and photochemical reactions, with applications in cancer treatment, sensing, and renewable energy. Professor Turro has received numerous awards, including the NSF Early CAREER Award, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award, and was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2024, she was elected a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. She has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Chemical Society and has…

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Atomic physics
• Materials science
• Optoelectronics
• Stereochemistry
• Optics
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Biochemistry

Selected publications

• Two-photon-absorbing ruthenium complexes enable near infrared light-driven photocatalysis

  Nature Communications · 2022 · 121 citations

  > 700 nm). Despite being found applications in photodynamic therapy and bioimaging, two-photon absorption (TPA), the simultaneous absorption of two photons by one molecule, has been rarely explored in homogeneous photocatalysis. Herein, we report a group of ruthenium polypyridyl complexes possessing TPA capability that can drive a variety of organic transformations upon irradiation with 740 nm light. We demonstrate that these TPA ruthenium complexes can operate in an analogous manner as one-phot…

  DOI

• Single-chromophore single-molecule photocatalyst for the production of dihydrogen using low-energy light

  Nature Chemistry · 2020 · 106 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Photosensitive Ru(II) Complexes as Inhibitors of the Major Human Drug Metabolizing Enzyme CYP3A4

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2021 · 68 citations

  . Thus, our study establishes a new paradigm in CYP inhibition using metalated complexes and suggests possible utilization of photoactive CYP3A4 inhibitory compounds in clinical applications, such as enhancement of therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs.

  DOI

• Ru(II) Complexes with Absorption in the Photodynamic Therapy Window: ¹O₂ Sensitization, DNA Binding, and Plasmid DNA Photocleavage

  Inorganic Chemistry · 2024-06-01 · 17 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Two Ru(II) complexes, [Ru(pydppn)(bim)(py)]2+ [2; pydppn = 3-(pyrid-2′-yl)-4,5,9,16-tetraaza-dibenzo[a,c]naphthacene; bim = 2,2′-bisimidazole; py = pyridine] and [Ru(pydppn)(Me4bim)(py)]2+ [3; Me4bim = 2,2′-bis(4,5-dimethylimidazole)], were synthesized and characterized, and their photophysical properties, DNA binding, and photocleavage were evaluated and compared to [Ru(pydppn)(bpy)(py)]2+ (1; bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine). Complexes 2 and 3 exhibit broad 1MLCT (metal-to-ligand charge transfer) transi…

  PublisherDOI

• Ruthenium-Cathepsin Inhibitor Conjugates for Green Light-Activated Photodynamic Therapy and Photochemotherapy

  Inorganic Chemistry · 2024-04-15 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  Dysregulated cathepsin activity is linked to various human diseases including metabolic disorders, autoimmune conditions, and cancer. Given the overexpression of cathepsin in the tumor microenvironment, cathepsin inhibitors are promising pharmacological agents and drug delivery vehicles for cancer treatment. In this study, we describe the synthesis and photochemical and biological assessment of a dual-action agent based on ruthenium that is conjugated with a cathepsin inhibitor, designed for bot…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Design of New Ru(II) Complexes to Control Excited State Reactivity

  NSF · $750k · 2018–2021

• Tuning the Excited States of New Ru(II) Complexes for Potential Photodynamic Therapy Applications

  NSF · $720k · 2012–2016

• Excited States of New Ru(II) Complexes: Controlling Reactivity

  NSF · $697k · 2015–2018

Frequent coauthors

• Kim R. Dunbar

  120 shared

• Jeremy J. Kodanko

  73 shared

• Daniel A. Lutterman

  52 shared

• Alfredo M. Angeles‐Boza

  University of Connecticut

  41 shared

• Patty K.‐L. Fu

  Governors State University

  41 shared

• A. Chouai

  University of Houston

  36 shared

• Judith C. Gallucci

  The Ohio State University

  33 shared

• Randolph P. Thummel

  University of Houston

  29 shared

Labs

• Claudia Turro LabPI

Awards & honors

• Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research Postdo…
• Early CAREER Award by the National Science Foundation (1998)
• Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award…
• Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2010)
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sc…

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