Amersham International Plc

Kwok W Chiu

James D Kelly

Ian A Latham

David V Griffiths

Jonathan R Dilworth

Peter Gerald Edwards

Tridentate mono-anionic ligands have the structure

Cationic complexes of technetium-99M

This invention concerns novel bidentate ligands L having two phosphorus or arsenic atoms. Cationic complexes of the ligands with Technetium-99m, e.g. having the formula [TcO.sub.2 L.sub.2 ].sup.+, are useful for body imaging, particularly myocardial imaging. The ligands have the general formula

Ligands and cationic complexes thereof with technetium-99m

The invention concerns cationic complexes of Technetium-99m with bidentate ligands (L), including complexes having the formulae [Tc(NO) X L.sub.2 ].sup.+ and [Tc L.sub.3 ].sup.+, which are of interest as heart imaging agents. The ligands are characterized by having the formula Y.sub.2 QZQY.sub.2, where each Q is phosphorus or arsenic, Z is a 2 or 3 carbon atom linking group, and at least one of the groups Y and Z includes at least one --COC--ether group.

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Gloucester, United Kingdom

Kwok W Chiu