Tris(bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) complexes modified such that one of the bipyridines is appended with a crown ether display luminescence that is responsive to complexation with metal ions. The parent species, Ru(bpy)(3)(2+), is moderately luminescent, with an emission lifetime of about 1 mu s in fluid solution at room temperature, The modified complexes are much less emissive, with lifetimes near 1 ns. Conformational flexibility and distortion in the crown-ether complexes enhance nonradiative decay. Noncovalent binding of metal ions, however, restores luminescence intensity by reducing nonradiative decay and increasing the lifetime 10- to 100-fold. Reported here are the syntheses and steady-state and time-resolved luminescence measurements in addition to other supporting spectroscopic characterization. Seven metals were investigated; significant luminescence enhancements occur in the presence of Mg2+, Ca2+, and Pb2+, Effective concentrations of metal ions range from tens of mu to hundreds of mM. The steady-state enhancements are readily measured, but they are less than would be expected from the lifetime changes, partly because only a portion (not more than 50%) of the fast (1 ns) decay in Ru(bPY)(2)(bpy-crown) is capable of converting to the conformation possessing the longer lifetime. A photophysical model is proposed to explain these and other observations.