In summary, we present a study of the electronic properties of Ru-bpm, a complex that contains redox-active Ru and bipyrimidine moieties. We find that the electrochemical behavior of Ru-bpm is dominated by the proton-coupled oxidation of Ru II -aqua to the corresponding Ru IV -oxo species and the proton-coupled reduction of bpm to bpmH2. The electronic transitions of Ru-bpm were found to be dominated by MLCT transitions with resonant frequencies in the visible region. We also find that Ru-bpm exhibits short excited-state lifetime and this behavior is attributed to the formation of a hydrogen-bonded adduct between the solvent and 3 MLCT state of Ru-bpm. Due to low solubility, the photophysical studies of Ru-bpm could not be performed in solvents with poor hydrogen-bond donating abilities (such as benzene). However, we postulate that the excited-state lifetime would exhibit an additional increase in such solvents, leading to interesting light switching behavior.