Development of a bowl-shaped ligand for stabilizing large cation complexes by effectively utilizing entropy reduction

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K14629
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 31010:Nuclear engineering-related
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Nagata Kojiro 大阪大学, コアファシリティ機構, 技術職員 (10806871)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ラジウム / アルファ線 / バリウム / 核医学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we worked on the development of a new ligand for the synthesis of radium complexes that are stable in vivo. Radium has a high potential radionuclide in radiotherapy using alpha particles. However, in order to make effective use of radium, it needs to be made into metal complexes, but the low stability of the complexes limits the range of applications. Therefore, a new bowl-shaped molecule was designed to stably trap radium ions. Using this molecule, the synthesis of complexes of barium, a homologous element of radium, was mainly studied and its stability was evaluated. Although the results were not obtained as expected at the beginning of this study, these results provided a guideline for the design of new ligands.

Free Research Field

錯体化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究はアルカリ土類金属イオンのような水溶液中で、通常は陽イオンの状態でしか取り扱えないイオンを錯体化することにより、分子性化合物として取り扱うための方法論の開発である。また、現在、放射線治療で非常に高い効果が見出されているアルファ線を用いた核医学の分野においては、その根幹を支える基礎研究である。現在はまだ、生体内で利用可能なラジウム錯体を合成する配位子の開発はできていないが、今後、改良した配位子の開発を行なっていく。