Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026

Line Shape Analysis of Dynamic NMR Spectra for Characterizing Coordination Sphere Rearrangements at a Chiral Rhenium Polyhydride Complex
Published on: July 27, 2022
pH-controlled coordination mode rearrangements of "clickable" Huisgen-based multidentate ligands with [M(I)(CO)3]+ (M
Shalina C Bottorff1, Adam L Moore, Ariana R Wemple
1Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, P.O. Box 644630, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA.
Abstract:
The viability of the Huisgen cycloaddition reaction for clickable radiopharmaceutical probes was explored with an alkyne-functionalized 2-[(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino]acetic acid (PMAA) ligand system, 3, and fac-[M(I)(OH2)3(CO)3](+) (M = Re, (99m)Tc). Two synthetic strategies, (1) click, then chelate and (2) chelate, then click, were investigated to determine the impact of assembly order on the reactivity of the system. In the click, then chelate approach, fac-[M(I)(OH2)3(CO)3](+) was reacted with the PMAA ligand "clicked" to the benzyl azide, 5, to yield two unique coordination species, fac-[M(I)(CO)3(O,N(amine),N(py)-5)], M = Re (8), (99m)Tc (8A), and fac-[M(I)(CO)3(N(tri),N(amine),N(py)-5)], M = Re (9), (99m)Tc (9A), where coordination is through the triazole (N(tri)), central amine (N(amine)), pyridine (N(py)), or carboxylate (O). Depending on the reaction pH, different ratios of complexes 8(A) and 9(A) were observed, but single species were obtained of (O,N(amine),N(py)) coordination, 8(A), in basic pHs (>9) and (N(tri),N(amine),N(py)) coordination, 9(A), in slightly acidic pHs (<4). In the chelate, then click approach, the (O,N(amine),N(py)) coordination of [M(I)(CO)3](+) was preorganized in the alkyne-functionalized fac-[M(I)(CO)3(O,N(amine),N(py)-3)], M = Re (6), (99m)Tc (6A), followed by standard Cu(I)-catalyzed Huisgen "click" conditions at pH ≈ 7.4, where the (O,N(amine),N(py)) coordination mode remained unchanged upon formation of the triazole product in the clicked molecule. Despite the slow substitution kinetics of the low-spin d(6) metal, the coordination modes (O,N(amine),N(py)) and (N(tri),N(amine),N(py)) were found to reversibly intraconvert between 8(A) and 9(A) based upon changes in pH that mirrored the (O,N(amine),N(py)) coordination in basic pHs and (N(tri),N(amine),N(py)) coordination in acidic pHs. Comparison of the Re and (99m)Tc analogs also revealed faster intraconversion between the coordination modes for (99m)Tc.
Related Concept Videos
Coordination Number and Geometry
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
Valence Bond Theory
Coordination Compounds and Nomenclature
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...

