Preparation, characterization and biological evaluation of cationic 99Tc/99mTc-dioxime complexes.

New cationic 99Tc/99Tc complexes formed with various symmetrical and asymmetrical vicinal dioximes of different carbon chain length (C5-C8) were synthesized by reduction of pertechnetate with BH4-, separated by HPLC and characterized by i.r./u.v./vis. spectroscopy, FAB mass spectrometry and electrophoresis. All complexes studied are trisdioximes containing boron as a constituent. Their lipophilicity, as assessed by the octanol/saline partition coefficient, ranges over almost four orders of magnitude. The myocardial uptake of the 99mTc complexes in mice proves to be lower than expected. The organ distributions are distinctly affected by the lipophilicity, the position of the dioxime group and the introduction of a terminal methoxy group.

Synthesis, characterization and biodistribution of the cationic technetium(II) 1,10-phenanthroline chelate.

[99Tc(phen)3]Cl2 was synthesized by reduction of pertechnetate with sodium borohydride in the presence of an excess of 1,10-phenanthroline and characterized by FAB mass spectrometry, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and i.r./vis/u.v. spectrophotometry. For biodistribution evaluation in mice [99mTc(phen)3]Cl2 could be obtained in a radiochemical purity of 92.5% using a similar procedure. The rather hydrophilic chelate was predominantly excreted by the kidneys. Its low blood retention resulted in a heart/blood activity ratio of 4.2 at 100 min post-injection.

Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of 99Tc/99mTc DIARS and DMPE complexes containing pentadecanoic acid.

The synthesis and purification of two new ligands, 15-[bis(3,4-dimethyl arsino)phenyl] pentadecanoic acid (FA-DIARS) and [bis(16,17-dimethyl phosphino)] heptadecanoic acid (FA-DMPE) and the preparation of their corresponding 99Tc/99mTc complexes of the general formula [Tc(III)L2Cl2]+, wherein L is FA-DIARS or FA-DMPE are reported. After careful purification by preparative HPLC, the 99Tc complexes were characterized by spectroscopy, while the 99mTc complexes were used to determine the biodistribution in mice. The results of the organ distribution studies indicated a relatively high uptake in heart (5-7% dose/g). The complexes were, however, found to be very slowly cleared from the blood, probably due to strong binding to serum proteins. Further, the heart to liver and heart to lung ratios were unfavourable. Attempts to improve the efficacy by synthesizing complexes containing one fatty acid per molecule are also described.