Ruthenium(II) complexes containing diimine ligands have contributed to the development of agents for photoactivated chemotherapy. Several approaches have been used to obtain photolabile Ru(II) complexes. The two most explored have been the use of monodentate ligands and the incorporation of steric effects between the bidentate ligands and the Ru(II). However, the introduction of electronic effects in the ligands has been less explored. Herein, we report a systematic experimental, theoretical, and photocytotoxicity study of a novel series of Ru(II) complexes Ru1-Ru5 of general formula [Ru(phen)₂(N^∧N')]²⁺, where N^∧N' are different minimal strained ligands based on the 1-aryl-4-benzothiazolyl-1,2,3-triazole (BTAT) scaffold, being CH₃ (Ru1), F (Ru2), CF₃ (Ru3), NO₂ (Ru4), and N(CH₃)₂ (Ru5) substituents in the R4 of the phenyl ring. The complexes are stable in solution in the dark, but upon irradiation in water with blue light (λ_ex = 465 nm, 4 mW/cm²) photoejection of the ligand BTAT was observed by HPLC-MS spectrometry and UV-vis spectroscopy, with t_1/2 ranging from 4.5 to 14.15 min depending of the electronic properties of the corresponding BTAT, being Ru4 the less photolabile (the one containing the more electron withdrawing substituent, NO₂). The properties of the ground state singlet and excited state triplet of Ru1-Ru5 have been explored using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations. A mechanism for the photoejection of the BTAT ligand from the Ru complexes, in H₂O, is proposed. Phototoxicity studies in A375 and HeLa human cancer cell lines showed that the new Ru BTAT complexes were strongly phototoxic. An enhancement of the emission intensity of HeLa cells treated with Ru5 was observed in response to increasing doses of light due to the photoejection of the BTAT ligand. These studies suggest that BTAT could serve as a photocleavable protecting group for the cytotoxic bis-aqua ruthenium warhead [Ru(phen)₂(OH₂)₂]²⁺.

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