Light-triggered NO release from a nanofibrous non-woven

Light-controlled NO delivery systems promise new applications in phototherapies. For this purpose, a ruthenium nitrosyl complex [(2)Ru(NO)(Cl)] with the novel ligand N,N′-(1,2-phenylene)bis(1-methyl-1H-imidazole-2-carboxamide) (2) has been synthesised and characterised in detail. The photoactive {Ru–NO}6 nitrosyl released NO in DMSO upon exposure to low-intensity UV-A light (λ = 366 nm). In order to create an applicable system the water-insoluble [(2)Ru(NO)(Cl)] was embedded into poly(L-lactide-co-D/L-lactide) nanofibrous non-wovens by electrospinning. Exposure of a 25 wt% non-woven of [(2)Ru(NO)(Cl)] to UV-A light resulted in a continuous release of NO into an aqueous solution. The cytoxicity of the non-woven against 3T3 mouse fibroblasts was very low.