Eu(III) and Tb(III) Complexes of Octa- and Nonadentate Macrocyclic Ligands Carrying Azide, Alkyne, and Ester Reactive Groups

Utilizing a Paper-Based Platform for Oilfield Applications: Time-Resolved Fluorescence Imaging and Detection of Interwell Chemical Tracers

Chemical tracers are indispensable tools for enhancing reservoir characterization and optimizing production processes in the oil and gas industry. Particularly, interwell water tracers provide key data for efficient water flood management and the improvement of production rates. However, the analysis of these water tracers within reservoir fluids is challenging, requiring laborious separation and extraction steps that often rely on complex instruments and skilled operators. Real-time analysis is especially problematic in remote areas with limited access to well-equipped laboratories. To address these challenges, we introduce a paper-based platform for the time-resolved fluorescence detection of dipicolinic acid (DPA) tracers complexed with terbium ion (Tb3+). Our innovation is driven by the need to simplify tracer analysis, make it portable, and enhance accessibility for oilfield applications. By leveraging the unique properties of cyclen-based macrocyclic ligands, we have achieved the stable and sensitive immobilization of Tb3+ on quartz microfilter paper, eliminating the need for extensive laboratory-based procedures. We achieve the stable and sensitive immobilization of Tb3+ on quartz microfilter paper by leveraging the unique properties of cyclen-based macrocyclic ligands. This innovation enables the formation of highly fluorescent, oil-blind, and optically detectable DPA-Tb3+ complexes at the paper surface. We visualize and capture these fluorescence signals using an intensified charge-coupled device camera via time gating, effectively suppressing undesirable fluorescence originating from crude oil. The quantification of DPA concentrations is achievable down to 158 ppb (9.45 × 10-7 M), as confirmed through time-resolved fluorescence microplate reader measurements. We also demonstrate the practicality of our technology by detecting DPA tracers in the presence of crude oil contamination, a common challenge encountered in oil production wells.

Rigidified Derivative of the Non-macrocyclic Ligand H4OCTAPA for Stable Lanthanide(III) Complexation

The stability constants of lanthanide complexes with the potentially octadentate ligand CHXOCTAPA^4–, which contains a rigid 1,2-diaminocyclohexane scaffold functionalized with two acetate and two picolinate pendant arms, reveal the formation of stable complexes [log K_LaL = 17.82(1) and log K_YbL = 19.65(1)]. Luminescence studies on the Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ analogues evidenced rather high emission quantum yields of 3.4 and 11%, respectively. The emission lifetimes recorded in H₂O and D₂O solutions indicate the presence of a water molecule coordinated to the metal ion. ¹H nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion profiles and ¹⁷O NMR chemical shift and relaxation measurements point to a rather low water exchange rate of the coordinated water molecule (k_ex²⁹⁸ = 1.58 × 10⁶ s^–1) and relatively high relaxivities of 5.6 and 4.5 mM^–1 s^–1 at 20 MHz and 25 and 37 °C, respectively. Density functional theory calculations and analysis of the paramagnetic shifts induced by Yb³⁺ indicate that the complexes adopt an unprecedented cis geometry with the two picolinate groups situated on the same side of the coordination sphere. Dissociation kinetics experiments were conducted by investigating the exchange reactions of LuL occurring with Cu²⁺. The results confirmed the beneficial effect of the rigid cyclohexyl group on the inertness of the Lu³⁺ complex. Complex dissociation occurs following proton- and metal-assisted pathways. The latter is relatively efficient at neutral pH, thanks to the formation of a heterodinuclear hydroxo complex.

A non-macrocyclic ligand containing a rigid cyclohexyl spacer forms thermodynamically stable complexes with the lanthanide(III) ions in aqueous solution. The complexes also show remarkable kinetic inertness, though a structural change facilitates dissociation through the metal-assisted mechanism for the small lanthanides. The Gd(III) complex displays a relatively high relaxivity due to the presence of a water molecule coordinated to the metal ion, while the Eu(III) and Tb(III) analogues display strong metal-centered luminescence.

Tuning the photophysical properties of luminescent lanthanide complexes through regioselective antenna fluorination

Carbostyrils monofluorinated in the 3, 5, or 6 positions were synthesised from olefinic precursors via a photochemical isomerisation-cyclisation route, and incorporated into octadentate cyclen triacetate ligands that formed luminescent complexes...

Reduced quenching effect of pyridine ligands in highly luminescent Ln(III) complexes: the role of tertiary amide linkers

Luminescent Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes were synthesised from octadentate ligands carrying various carbostyril sensitizing antennae and two bidentate picolinate donors. Antennae were connected to the metal binding site via tertiary amide linkers. Antennae and donors were assembled on a 1,4,7-triazacyclononane (tacn) platform. Solution- and solid-state structures were comparable to those of previously reported complexes with tacn architectures, with nine-coordinate distorted tricapped trigonal prismatic Ln(III) centres, and distinct from those based on 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen) macrocycles. In contrast, the photophysical properties of these tertiary amide tacn-based complexes were more comparable to those of previously reported systems with cyclen ligands, showing efficient Eu(III) and Tb(III) luminescence. This represents an improvement over secondary amide-linked analogues, and is due to a greatly increased sensitization efficiency in the tertiary amide-linked complexes. Tertiary amide-linked Eu(III) and Tb(III) emitters were more photostable than their secondary amide-linked analogues due to the suppression of photoinduced electron transfer and back energy transfer.

Excited State Properties of Lanthanide(III) Complexes with a Nonadentate Bispidine Ligand

EuIII , TbIII , GdIII and YbIII complexes of the nonadentate bispidine derivative L2 (bispidine=3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane) were successfully synthesized and their emission properties studied. The X-ray crystallography reveals full encapsulation by the nonadentate ligand L2 that enforces to all LnIII cations a common highly symmetrical capped square antiprismatic (CSAPR) coordination geometry (pseudo C4v symmetry). The well-resolved identical emission spectra in solid state and in solution confirm equal structures in both media. As therefore expected, this results in long-lived excited states and high emission quantum yields ([EuIII L2 ]+ , H2 O, 298 K, τ=1.51 ms, ϕ=0.35; [TbIII L2 ]+ , H2 O, 298 K, τ=1.95 ms, ϕ=0.68). Together with the very high kinetic and thermodynamic stabilities, these complexes are a possible basis for interesting biological probes.

Electron transfer pathways in photoexcited lanthanide(iii) complexes of picolinate ligands

A series of luminescent lanthanide(iii) complexes consisting of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane frameworks and three secondary amide-linked carbostyril antennae were synthesised. The metal binding sites were augmented with two pyridylcarboxylate donors yielding octadentate ligands. The antennae carried methyl, methoxymethyl or trifluoromethyl substituents in their 4-positions, allowing for a range of excited state energies and antenna electronic properties. The ¹H NMR spectra of the Eu(iii) complexes were found to be analogous to each other. Similar results were obtained in the solid-state by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, which showed the structures to have nine-coordinate metal ions with heavily distorted tricapped trigonal prismatic geometries. Steady-state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy showed that the antennae could sensitize both Tb(iii) and Eu(iii), however, quantum yields were lower than in other octadentate complexes lacking pyridylcarboxylate. Complexes with more electron-poor pyridines were less emissive even when equipped with the same antenna. The oxidation and reduction potentials of the antennae and the pyridinecarboxylates, respectively, were determined by cyclic voltammetry. The obtained values were consistent with electron transfer from the excited antenna to the pyridine providing a previously unexplored quenching pathway that could efficiently compete with energy transfer to the lanthanide. These results show the crucial impact that photophysically innocent ligand binding sites can have on lanthanide luminescence.

Combining the Best of Two Chelating Titans: A Hydroxypyridinone-Decorated Macrocyclic Ligand for Efficient and Concomitant Complexation and Sensitized Luminescence of f-Elements

An ideal chelator for f-elements features rapid kinetics of complexation, high thermodynamic stability, and slow kinetics of dissociation. Here we present the facile synthesis of a macrocyclic ligand bearing four 1-hydroxy-2-pyridinone units linked to a cyclen scaffold that rapidly forms thermodynamically stable complexes with lanthanides (Sm³⁺ , Eu³⁺ , Tb³⁺ , Dy³⁺ ) and a representative late actinide (Cm³⁺ ) in aqueous media and concurrently sensitizes them. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy revealed an increase in the Ln/An-O bond lengths following the trend Cm>Eu>Tb and EXAFS data were compatible with time-resolved luminescence studies, which indicated one to two water molecules in the inner metal coordination sphere of Eu(III) and two water molecules for the Cm(III) complex. Spectrofluorimetric ligand competition titrations against DTPA confirmed the high thermodynamic stability of DOTHOPO complexes, with pM values between 19.9(1) and 21.9(2).

In Situ Rolling Circle Amplification Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (RCA-FRET) for Washing-Free Real-Time Single-Protein Imaging

Fluorescence signal enhancement via isothermal nucleic acid amplification is an important approach for sensitive imaging of intra- or extracellular nucleic acid or protein biomarkers. Rolling circle amplification (RCA) is frequently applied for fluorescence in situ imaging but faces limitations concerning multiplexing, dynamic range, and the required multiple washing steps before imaging. Here, we show that Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between fluorescent dyes and between lanthanide (Ln) complexes and dyes that hybridize to β-actin-specific RCA products in HaCaT cells can afford washing-free imaging of single β-actin proteins. Proximity-dependent FRET could be monitored directly after or during (real-time monitoring) dye or Ln DNA probe incubation and could efficiently distinguish between photoluminescence from β-actin-specific RCA and DNA probes freely diffusing in solution or nonspecifically attached to cells. Moreover, time-gated FRET imaging with the Ln-dye FRET pairs efficiently suppressed sample autofluorescence and improved the signal-to-background ratio. Our results present an important proof of concept of RCA-FRET imaging with a strong potential to advance in situ RCA toward easier sample preparation, higher-order multiplexing, autofluorescence-free detection, and increased dynamic range by real-time monitoring of in situ RCA.

Co(II) Macrocyclic Complexes Appended with Fluorophores as paraCEST and cellCEST Agents

Four high-spin macrocyclic Co(II) complexes with hydroxypropyl or amide pendants and appended coumarin or carbostyril fluorophores were prepared as CEST (chemical exchange saturation transfer) MRI probes. The complexes were studied in solution as paramagnetic CEST (paraCEST) agents and after loading into Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells as cell-based CEST (cellCEST) agents. The fluorophores attached to the complexes through an amide linkage imparted an unusual pH dependence to the paraCEST properties of all four complexes through of ionization of a group that was attributed to the amide NH linker. The furthest shifted CEST peak for the hydroxypropyl-based complexes changed by ∼90 ppm upon increasing the pH from 5 to 7.5. At acidic pH, the Co(II) complexes exhibited three to four CEST peaks with the most highly shifted CEST peak at 200 ppm. The complexes demonstrated substantial paramagnetic water proton shifts which is a requirement for the development of cellCEST agents. The large shift in the proton resonance was attributed to an inner-sphere water at neutral pH, as shown by variable temperature ¹⁷O NMR spectroscopy studies. Labeling of yeast with one of these paraCEST agents was optimized with fluorescence microscopy and validated by using ICP mass spectrometry quantitation of cobalt. A weak asymmetry in the Z-spectra was observed in the yeast labeled with a Co(II) complex, toward a cellCEST effect, although the Co(II) complexes were toxic to the cells at the concentrations necessary for observation of cellCEST.

Lanthanide(III) Complexes of Cyclen Triacetates and Triamides Bearing Tertiary Amide-Linked Antennae

The coordination compounds of the trivalent lanthanide ions (Ln(III)) have unique photophysical properties. Ln(III) excitation is usually performed through a light-harvesting antenna. To enable Ln(III)-based emitters to reach their full potential, an understanding of how complex structure affects sensitization and quenching processes is necessary. Here, the role of the linker between the antenna and the metal binding fragment was studied. Four macrocyclic ligands carrying coumarin 2 or 4-methoxymethylcarbostyril sensitizing antennae linked to an octadentate macrocyclic ligand binding site were synthesized. Complexation with Ln(III) (Ln = La, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Yb and Lu) yielded species with overall −1, 0, or +2 and +3-charge. Paramagnetic ¹H NMR spectroscopy indicated subtle differences between the coumarin- and carbostyril-carrying Eu(III) and Yb(III) complexes. Cyclic voltammetry showed that the effect of the linker on the Eu(III)/Eu(II) apparent reduction potential was dependent on the electronic properties of the N-substituent. The Eu(III), Tb(III) and Sm(III) complexes were all luminescent. Coumarin-sensitized complexes were poorly emissive; photoinduced electron transfer was not a major quenching pathway in these species. These results show that seemingly similar emitters can undergo very different photophysical processes, and highlight the crucial role the linker can play.

Trivalent metal complex geometry of the substrate governs cathepsin B enzymatic cleavage rate

The identity of the trivalent metal ion controls the rate of the enzymatic cleavage of a series of metal-complexed cathepsin B substrates. Increasing the distance between the metal complex and the enzyme cleavage site diminishes this effect.