Discovery of powerful uranyl ligands from efficient synthesis and screening.

New tripodal gem-(bis-phosphonates) uranophiles were discovered by a screening method that allowed for the selection of ligands with strong uranyl-binding properties in a convenient microtiter-plate format. The method is based on competitive uranium binding by using Sulfochlorophenol S as chromogenic chelate. This dye compound was found to present high uranyl complexation properties and allowed to highlight ligands presenting association constants for UO(2+)(2) up to 10(18) at pH 7.4 and 10(20) at pH 9. A collection of 40 known ligands including polycarboxylate, hydroxamate, catecholate, hydroxypyridonate and hydroxyquinoline derivatives was tested. Also screened was a combinatorial library prepared from seven amine scaffolds and eight acrylates bearing diverse chelating moieties. Among these 96 tested candidates, a tripod derivative bearing gem-bis-phosphonates moieties was found to present the highest complexation properties over a wide range of pH and was further studied.

Comparative studies on the iron chelators O-TRENSOX and TRENCAMS: selectivity of the complexation towards other biologically relevant metal ions and Al(3+).

Complexation constants have been determined by potentiometric titration and spectrophotometric measurements for several biologically relevant divalent metals (Ca(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+)) as well as Al(3+) with the sulfonated tris(8-hydroxyquinolinate) tripodal ligand O-TRENSOX. The values demonstrate great selectivity of O-TRENSOX for Fe(3+) according to the sequence Fe(3+) >>Cu(2+)>Zn(2+)>Ca(2+). This selectivity is compared to that shown by tris(hydroxamate) and tris(catecholate) ligands. (1)H NMR spectroscopy of the diamagnetic complexes have been carried out in (2)H(2)O solutions.

Hydrophilic and lipophilic iron chelators with the same complexing abilities.

A new series of iron chelators with the same coordination sphere as the water-soluble ligand O-trensox, but featuring a variable hydrophilic-lipophilic balance, have been obtained by grafting oxyethylene chains of variable length on a C-pivot tripodal scaffold. The X-ray structure of a ferric complex exhibiting tris(8-hydroxyquinolinate) coordination and solution thermodynamic properties (pK(a) of the ligands, stability constants of the ferric complexes) have been determined. The complexing ability (pFe(III) values) of the ligands are similar to that of O-trensox. Partition coefficients between water and octanol or chloroform have been measured and transport across a membrane has been mimicked ("shuttle process"). The results of biological assays (iron chelation with free ligands or iron nutrition with ferric complexes) could not be correlated with the partition coefficients. These results call into question the role of distribution coefficients (of the ligands and/or complexes) in the biological activities of iron chelators.