Lanthanides (Ln3+) and some actinides (An3+) are critically important ions that have versatile applications in the field of medicine as therapeutic agents, luminescent probes, and MRI contrast agents. All Ln3+ ions have remarkably similar coordination chemistries, and the only distinguishing feature among them is their ionic radii, which decrease across the series (lanthanide contraction). To use them in medicine, Ln3+ ions need to formulate with ligands as coordination compounds. Tuning the thermodynamic stability of these compounds is a general concern for their use in biological applications, which is challenging due to the similar coordination chemistry of the Ln3+ ions. In this presentation, we will discuss several different ligand design strategies for forming stable Ln3+ and An3+ complexes that can be used in medicine. These studies describe the investigation the metal-binding properties of these ligands by potentiometric and UV–Vis spectroscopic titrations, X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. Collectively, this work highlights novel ligand design strategies for medically relevant f-block ions.

Ligand design on chelation of f-block elements for medicine

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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