Structural variations across the lanthanide series of macrocyclic DOTA complexes: Insights into the design of contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging

It was early shown that the macrocyclic Ln(DOTA) complexes (DOTA = 1,4,7,10-tetra-azacyclododecane-N,N',N",N'''-tetraacetic acid) exists in solution as a mixture of two enantiomeric pairs of diastereoisomers differing in the ligand conformation, namely, square antiprismatic (SA) and twisted square antiprismatic (TSA) geometries, respectively. Later, extensive H-1 NMR investigations suggested that a coordination change may be superimposed on this conformational equilibrium involving two additional structures in which the metal ion possesses a coordination number of eight (CN 8). It was predicted that these two species, lacking the apical coordinated water molecule, would maintain the SA and TSA coordination geometries, and therefore, they have been labeled as SA' and TSA', respectively. In this work we report the X-ray solid-state crystal structure determination of six Ln(DOTA) complexes representative of all four coordination geometry typologies deduced from NMR solution studies. A distinctive structural feature that discriminates SA (and SA') and TSA (and TSA') structures is represented by the twist angle between the two square planes of the antiprism, the basal four nitrogen, and the apical four oxygen planes. [Ce(DOTA)(H2O)](-) displays a TSA structural typology with a twist angle of 25degrees and a Ce-O-water distance of 2.59 Angstrom. The SA-type structure has been found in the case of complexes with Pr(III), Nd(III), and Dy(III), where the twist angle is 39, 39, and 38degrees, respectively, and the metal-water oxygen distance varies significantly (Pr-O-w 2.529 Angstrom; Nd-O-w 2.508 Angstrom; and Dy-O-w 2.474 Angstrom). [Tm(DOTA)](-) displays a TSA'-type structure with a twist angle of 24degrees. As compared with the TSA structure of the corresponding Ce(III) complex, the Tm(III) complex shows an overall marked shrinkage of all metal-nitrogen and metal-oxygen distances (ca. 0.2 Angstrom), which reflects the contraction of the metal ionic radius across the series but also the effect associated with the decrease of the CN from 9 to 8. In [Sc(DOTA)](-), the even smaller ionic radius of Sc(III) shifts the geometry of the coordination cage to the more compact SA' typology with a twist angle of 41degrees, a value very similar to that found in the SA structures of lanthanide(III) ions with CN 9. Finally, an investigation was made into the hydration spheres of the complexes with SA and TSA geometries to account for the experimental evidence of a markedly different rate of water exchange for the two isomeric structures. This is of fundamental importance to the understanding of the corresponding Gd(III) complexes as MRI contrast agents.