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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Preparation, Purification, and Characterization of Lanthanide Complexes for Use as Contrast Agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: July 21, 2011
Fe(III)-templated Gd(III) self-assemblies-a new route toward macromolecular MRI contrast agents
Valérie C Pierre1, Mauro Botta, Silvio Aime
1Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1460, USA.
Abstract:
The self-assembly of supramolcular clusters of Gd(III) hydroxypyridinone complexes, templated by an Fe(III) terephthalamide center, is presented. The peripheral Gd(III) ions are each coordinated by two water molecules which exchange rapidly with the bulk solvent. These properties, along with the high rigidity of the supramolecules, efficiently increase the rotational correlation times of the cluster, resulting in high relaxivities at high magnetic fields and hence making these complexes good candidates for MRI contrast agents.
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Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
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