具吡啶基之釕金屬錯合物在有過氧化氫的活化下，可有效地使DNA斷裂。利用磷-32放射性標記之聚核苷酸及凝膠電泳法，這些釕金屬可任意切割DNA，不論是在圈狀、突狀、或雙股區域之TAR-DNA。在進一步實驗中，利用與不同氧化劑時，釕金屬錯合物可具有特定位置之斷裂。在基於氧化還原電位測量，與FeEDTA^(2-)之同位移實驗，以及反應破壞之研究等結果，其可能之活性反應物為金屬一過氧化氧及氫氧根之自由基而達到DNA之斷裂。
Pyridyl-Schiff base ruthenium complexes are able to nick DNA in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, not of molecular oxygen. Using ^(32)P-isotope labeling oligonucleotide and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, this ruthenium complex cleaves DNA randomly without regarding to the different structures in the bulge, inter-loop, or double stranded regions in the TARDNA analog. Moreover, pyridyl-Schiff base ruthenium complexes are capable of tuning the selectivity by altering different external oxidants to reach the site-specific DNA cleavage. The possible reactive species is found to involve the formation of ruthenium-peroxide and hydroxyl radical according to quenching study, co-migration with FeEDTA^2-, and redox potential measurements.
