The pursuit of high-relaxivity Gd-based MRI contrast agents presents an excellent opportunity in the undergraduate research laboratory for students to acquire knowledge and skills in the area of lanthanide coordination chemistry while pursuing the goal of developing practical imaging agents. Our lab is presently investigating a series of multidentate, pyridine containing ligands linked through a tripodal backbone to afford lanthanide complexes with hydration numbers of two to three. The syntheses of the ligands can be carried out via straightforward procedures, and in one case in only one, solvent-less step. This is important both in terms of the potential commercial applications but also in allowing meaningful contributions to be made by undergraduates with limited and often fragmented blocks of time to devote to research. Among the ligands examined thus far is the tris-imino/pyridine ligand (TRIPy) which forms a Gd(III) complex in aqueous solution with an average hydration number of 2.3. This value, combined with relatively fast water exchange, is consistent with relaxometric characterization and has inspired the synthesis of new derivatives incorporating phosphonate binding groups to enhance stability and fully exploit the potential of this novel class of complexes.

Linking fundamental undergraduate f-element research to real-world applications: Development of pyridine/phosphonate based MRI contrast agents

247th National Meeting (2014)

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