Amersham International Plc

Ineos Acrylics UK Limited

Peter Gerald Edwards

James D Kelly

Ian A Latham

Robert Paul Tooze

David V Griffiths

Kwok W Chiu

Jamie Michael Thorpe

Richard Anthony Campbell

Paul David Newman

A method of manufacturing a compound of general formula (R &mdash;C) P&mdash;L &mdash;X&mdash;L &mdash;P&mdash;(C&mdash;R ) , in which each R is independently a pendant, optionally substituted, organic group through which the group is linked to tertiary carbon atom C; L , L are independently a linking group selected from an optionally substituted lower alkylene chain connecting the respective phosphorus atom to the group X and X is a bridging group comprising an optionally substituted aryl moiety to which the phosphorus atoms are linked on available adjacent carbon atoms, comprises: i) reacting together a compound of formula H&mdash;L &mdash;X&mdash;L &mdash;H with an organometallic compound to form an intermediate compound of formula M&mdash;L &mdash;X&mdash;L &mdash;M, where M is an alkali metal atom; ii) reacting said intermediate compound with a compound of formula (R &mdash;C) P&mdash;A, where A is a halogen atom, to form said compound of general formula (R &mdash;C) P&mdash;L &mdash;X&mdash;L &mdash;P&mdash;(C&mdash;R ) , M is preferably lithium, potassium or sodium and the intermediate compound may be isolated or not. The reaction (i) may advantageously be carried out in the presence of a complexing agent such as tetramethyethylenediamine.

Process for the preparation of bisphosphines

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.

Cationic complexes of technetium-99m

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Cardiff, United Kingdom

Peter Gerald Edwards