The Synthesis and Characterization Of A Functionalized Diethylenetriamine Rhenium Complex Followed By Analytical Analysis of Novel Rhenium-Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Conjugates

In 2021, it is projected that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will receive a new cancer diagnosis, resulting in nearly 1.9 million new cases of cancer in the United States alone. Although the mortality rate of cancer has been declining since 1991, there is still progress to be made, particularly in the area of diagnostic imaging compounds for earlier and more rapid detection of diseased states. Given the widespread use of technetium-99m (99mTc) in over 85% of radiopharmaceutical compounds, it is an ideal candidate for generating medically relevant organometallic complexes. The [99mTc(CO)3L]+ core, when facially chelated by tridentate ligands, shows superior pharmacokinetics and stability. Given the nuclear characteristics of 99mTc, studying these complexes is complicated. Here we use non-radioactive rhenium (Re) in [Re(CO)3L]+ analogues to serve as safer models for 99mTc complexes. Furthermore, complexes with a [Re186/188(CO)3L]+ core have also shown promise in both medical diagnostic imaging and targeted cancer treatment. Here we synthesized the tridentate ligand N-benzyl-2-(bis(2-aminoethyl)amino)acetamide, which facially chelates rhenium. Analytical High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was also performed on rhenium-Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone (LHRH) conjugates. The synthesis and characterization (proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry) of this complex, as well as analytical HPLC results will be discussed