Highly Stable Silver(I) Complexes with Cyclen-Based Ligands Bearing Sulfide Arms: A Step Toward Silver-111 Labeled Radiopharmaceuticals

With a half-life of 7.45 days, silver-111 (βmax 1.04 MeV, E γ 245.4 keV [I γ 1.24%], E γ 342.1 keV [I γ 6.7%]) is a promising candidate for targeted cancer therapy with β – emitters as well as for associated SPECT imaging. For its clinical use, the development of suitable ligands that form sufficiently stable Ag+-complexes in vivo is required. In this work, the following sulfur-containing derivatives of tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen) have been considered as potential chelators for silver-111: 1,4,7,10-tetrakis­(2-(methylsulfanyl)­ethyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (DO4S), (2S,5S,8S,11S)-2,5,8,11-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetrakis­(2-(methylsulfanyl)­ethyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (DO4S4Me), 1,4,7-tris­(2-(methylsulfanyl)­ethyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (DO3S), 1,4,7-tris­(2-(methylsulfanyl)­ethyl)-10-acetamido-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (DO3SAm), and 1,7-bis­(2-(methylsulfanyl)­ethyl)-4,10,diacetic acid-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (DO2A2S). Natural Ag+ was used in pH/Ag-potentiometric and UV–vis spectrophotometric studies to determine the metal speciation existing in aqueous NaNO3 0.15 M at 25 °C and the equilibrium constants of the complexes, whereas NMR and DFT calculations gave structural insights. Overall results indicated that sulfide pendant arms coordinate Ag+ allowing the formation of very stable complexes, both at acidic and physiological pH. Furthermore, radiolabeling, stability in saline phosphate buffer, and metal-competition experiments using the two ligands forming the strongest complexes, DO4S and DO4S4Me, were carried out with [111Ag]­Ag+ and promising results were obtained.