# THE CHEMISTRY OF TECHNETIUM RELATED TO NUCLEAR MEDICINE

> **NIH NIH R01** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 1991 · $378,133

## Abstract

The aims of this research are to investigate further the uses of
technetium complexes containing substituted isonitrile ligands in
routine clinical nuclear medicine.  The objective is to capitalize
upon technology originally developed in these laboratories that
has since led to the clinical trials of a new myocardial perfusion
agent (99mTc-MIBI) now underway in U.S. and European medical
centers.

The isonitrile class of compounds in principle constitute a very
large number of different chemical species with widely differing
biological distribution properties.  This is possible because the
ligands (CN-R) are carbon-bonded to the central metal atom, thus
allowing the nature of the inner coordination sphere of the
complexes to be modified by varying the substituent R group.  To
investigate the full potential of this class requires a combination
of chemical, biochemical and biological studies at both
macroscopic and tracer concentrations using the long-lived
radionuclide Tc-99 and the short-lived gamma emitter Tc-99m.

This proposal describes, therefore, a program to synthesize and
characterize technetium complexes containing a variety of
substituted isonitrile ligands and to evaluate their potential as
new radiopharmaceuticals.  The procedures will include complete
chemical identification of the compounds at carrier added levels
and transfer of the chemistry to no carrier added concentrations
for biological evaluation.  This portion of the research will involve
developing new methods of synthesis and analysis, so that
structure-activity relationships can be examined by in vivo and in
vitro studies using well-defined chemical species.  The
mechanisms of action of those members of the class that have
already been shown to be effective for imaging the human heart
will be examined.  In addition, other applications of this versatile
series of complexes will be investigated, for example, cardiac
agents that reflect processes other than simple perfusion and
radiopharmaceuticals for studying lung, hepatobiliary, and renal
function.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3172758
- **Project number:** 5R01CA034970-13
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **SAM.gov UEI:** JDLVAVGYJQ21
- **Principal Investigator:** Alun Gareth Jones
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1991
- **Award amount:** $378,133
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1977-02-01 → 1991-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3172758

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3172758, THE CHEMISTRY OF TECHNETIUM RELATED TO NUCLEAR MEDICINE (5R01CA034970-13). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3172758. Licensed CC0.

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