Ru₃₆₀ is an oxo-bridged dinuclear

ruthenium Ruthenium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is unreactive to most chem ...

ammine complex with an absorption spectrum maximum at 360 nm. It is an analog of ruthenium red, a well-known effective

inhibitor Inhibitor or inhibition may refer to: Biology * Enzyme inhibitor, a substance that binds to an enzyme and decreases the enzyme's activity * Reuptake inhibitor, a substance that increases neurotransmission by blocking the reuptake of a neurotransmi ...

of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter. Ru₃₆₀ was discovered after scientists found that commercial preparations of ruthenium red were often less than 20% pure, and that the crude mixture produced a stronger inhibition than the purified product. This component was later isolated and its structure determined, Ru₃₆₀ has structural formula (μ-O) HCO₂)(NH₃)₄Rusub>2Cl₃, that is, an oxygen-linked chain only two

octahedral In geometry, an octahedron (: octahedra or octahedrons) is any polyhedron with eight faces. One special case is the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex. Many types of i ...

ruthenium–ammine units rather than the three of ruthenium red. One of the ruthenium atoms is in a +3 oxidation state, and the other in a +4 oxidation state. In addition to the four ammonia ligands, each ruthenium also has one

formate Formate (IUPAC name: methanoate) is the conjugate base of formic acid. Formate is an anion () or its derivatives such as ester of formic acid. The salts and esters are generally colorless. Fundamentals When dissolved in water, formic acid co ...

group and there are a total of three chloride ions to balance the charge. In solution, chloride or hydroxide groups displace the formates. Since Ru₃₆₀ inhibits the flow of

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

into

mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

, which can prevent the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, it has been investigated as a therapeutic treatment for

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

References

{{Reflist Ruthenium complexes Ion channel blockers Formates Ammine complexes Chloro complexes Mixed valence compounds