Fulvio Uggeri1, Alessandro Maiocchi1, Silvio Aime2, Erno Brucher3, Zsolt Baranyai3, Attila Benyei3
1Bracco Imaging s.p.a., Colleretto Giacosa, Torino, Italy; 2Universit degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy; 3University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
The heptadentate ligand AAZTA and its derivatives were recently reported to give stable complexes with Gd(III) with superior efficiency as MRI contrast agents. Nevertheless, only preliminary data are available on the coordination behaviour of this interesting ligand. In this work, thermodynamic and kinetic stability data are determined for the complex formation of AAZTA towards Gd(III) ions and other metal ion of interest for this application. The obtained data have shown that near physiological conditions Gd(AAZTA) is significantly more inert than Gd(DTPA)allowing its potentially safe use as contrast agent in MRI.