Photochemical release of nitric oxide from a regenerable, sol-gel encapsulated Ru-salen-nitrosyl complex

Light actviation leads to release of NO from a silicate sol-gel material SG-RuNO prepared from the ruthenium complex, [Ru(salen)(OH2) (NO)]+(salen =N,Nʹ-bis-(salicylidene)ethyl-enediaminato); after photochemical NO photolabilization, SG-RuNO can be regenerated from the spent material via the subsequent reaction with aqueous nitrite.