Bispidines for Dual Imaging

The efficient transformation of the hexadentate bispidinol 1 into carbamate derivatives yields functional bispidines enabling convenient functionalization for targeted imaging. The BODIPY‐substituted bispidine 3 combines a coordination site for metal ions, such as radioactive ⁶⁴Cu^II, with a fluorescent unit. Product 3 was thoroughly characterized by standard analytical methods, single crystal X‐ray diffraction, radiolabeling, and photophysical analysis. The luminescence of ligand 3 was found to be strongly dependent on metal ion coordination: Cu^II quenches the BODIPY fluorescence, whereas Ni^II and Zn^II ions do not affect it. It follows that, in imaging applications with the positron emitter ⁶⁴Cu^II, residues of its origin from enriched ⁶⁴Ni and the decay products ⁶⁴Ni^II and ⁶⁴Zn^II, efficiently restore the fluorescence of the ligand. This allows for monitoring of the emitted radiation as well as the fluorescence signal. The stability of the ⁶⁴Cu^II? 3 complex is investigated by transmetalation experiments with Zn^II and Ni^II, using fluorescence and radioactivity detection, and the results confirm the high stability of ⁶⁴Cu^II? 3 . In addition, metal complexes of ligand 3 with the lanthanide ions Tb^III, Eu^III, and Nd^III are shown to exhibit emission of the BODIPY ligand and the lanthanide ion, thus enabling dual emission detection.