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1,5,9,13-Tetrathiacyclohexane-3,11-diol (16S4-diol), a sulfur crown ether analog, was studied as a potential chelating agent to complex no-carrier-added (NCA) grade 105Rh(III) in high yield at low ligand concentrations. trans-[RhCl2(16S4-diol)]chi (chi = Cl, PF6) was prepared using nonradioactive RhCl3.3H2O and characterized by UV-Vis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray crystallography. It was shown to have a +1 charge with the Rh(III) metal center coordinated to the four S atoms equatorially and two Cl atoms in trans axial positions. The 105Rh-16S4-diol complex prepared with NCA 105Rh(III)-chloride reagent was found to exhibit identical chromatographic properties as trans-[Rh(III)Cl2(16S4-diol)]+ (including silica and C-18 thin-layer chromatography [TLC] and electrophoresis). The preparation of 105Rh-16S4-diol complex formation optimized for conditions of pH, temperature, time, % ethanol and quantity of 16S4-diol resulted in yields > 90%. Very low quantities of 16S4-diol (3 nmol) complex NCA 105Rh(III) under relatively mild reaction conditions (heating at 64 degrees C for 90 min) in the presence of ethanol (10%), yielded the high specific activity 105Rh-16S4-diol complex as a single cationic species. The 105Rh-16S4-diol complex was shown to be stable for > or = 4 days in physiological buffers at room temperature and in human serum at 37 degrees C.

When eluates from expired 99mMo/99mTc generators were used to form the neutral lipophilic complexes of PnAO and its derivatives, degradation of these chelates occurred on standing to form secondary 99mTc-species. It was determined that the conversion of the primary complexes to secondary complexes was due to the impurities present in the 99mTcO4- eluate. The stability was found to be improved by extraction of the complexes into CHCl3 and reconstituting in buffer after evaporation of CHCl3, indicating that the impurities are non extractable into CHCl3. Purification of the 99mTcO4- eluate from the generator by MEK extraction and its use for the preparation of the PnAO complex produced products which showed practically no degradation for a 6 h period of storage. All the secondary 99mTc complexes of PnAO are converted back to primary complex, when the solution was heated in a boiling water bath for 10-20 min.

A new hexadentate aminethiol ligand (TACNS) derived from triazacyclononane was synthesized and characterized for the development of technetium radiopharmaceuticals. The ligand formed a neutral, lipophilic and stable complex with [99mTc]pertechnetate in the presence of tin(II)tartarate as a reducing agent. The biodistribution of [99mTc]TACNS indicates slight uptake in brain (0.23% ID/organ at 5 min) with a washout at 30 min to 0.14% ID/organ. A small uptake in heart (0.48% ID at 5 min) was also observed. The characterization of [99mTc]TACNS complex using single crystal x-ray analysis and mass spectroscopy has shown that an Sn-N3S3 complex was formed in which tin is oxidized from Sn(II) to Sn(IV). Pertechnetate was incorporated into the complex as counter anion. The nature of the species formed with Tc-99 and "no-carrier-added" [99mTc]pertechnetate is different as confirmed by ratio TLC. From these results, it is demonstrated that sometimes it may be difficult to predict the structure of new technetium radiopharmaceuticals, especially when stannous ion is used as a reducing agent. Moreover, the nature of the chemical species may not be the same at millimolar and at nanomolar levels.