Potentiometric, luminescence and NMR study of the interaction of Eu with glyceryl phosphates

Complexation of europium(III) with glyceryl-1- and -2-phosphates has been studied by metal ion luminescence, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and potentiometry. From the luminescence and NMR studies, the formation of a 1:1 inner-sphere complex, in which the glyceryl phosphate is directly bound to the metal, is confirmed. Similar apparent binding constants at pH 2 were obtained by the three methods. Values obtained by NMR at pH 2 are 53 M⁻¹ and 12 M⁻¹ for glyceryl-1- and -2-phosphate, respectively. By comparison with literature data on related systems it is suggested that the ligands bind through the phosphate group. To obtain structural information from the NMR data, complexation has also been studied with the lanthanide ions Dy(III), Er(III) and Gd(III) using both chemical shift and relaxation data. From this, metal-proton distance ratios have been calculated. Comparison of ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectral data in the presence of paramagnetic lanthanides suggests conformational equilibria in the solutions. From the potentiometric studies, global formation constants have been determined, and speciation diagrams obtained over the pH range 1.5pH7.0 for ligand/metal ratios of 1 and 30. Implications of these results on lanthanide induced fusion of phospholipid membranes are discussed.