Polymethylated DOTA ligands. 1. Synthesis of rigidified ligands and studies on the effects of alkyl substitution on acid-base properties and conformational mobility

This work describes the synthesis and the conformational properties of new polymethylated macrocyclic ligands of potential interest for magnetic resonance imaging. M4cyclen, (2S,5S,8S,11S)-2,5,8,11-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane, was obtained by cyclotetramerization of (2S)-1-benzyl-2-methylaziridine followed by catalytic hydrogenation. The ligands M4DOTA, (2S,5S,8S,11S)-4,7,10-tris-carboxymethyl-2,5,8,11-tetramethyl- 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecan-1-yl]acetic acid, and M4DOTMA, (R)-2-(2S,5S,8S,11S)-4,7,10-tris-((R)-1-carboxyethyl)-2,5,8,11-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecan-1-yl]propionic acid, were prepared by carboxyalkylation of M4cyclen in the presence of Na(2)CO(3). The triacetic ligand M4DO3A, (2S,5S,8S,11S)-4,7-bis-carboxymethyl-2,5,8,11-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecan-1-yl]acetic acid, was obtained in good yields without traces of M4DOTA if NaHCO(3) was the acid scavenger when adding the carboxylic arms. In the same conditions, cyclen yielded M4DOTA in 82% yield. The difference between the reactivity of cyclen and M4cyclen is assigned to the high basicity of the substituted tetraamine as estimated by NMR titration. The one- and two-dimensional (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra of M4DOTA and M4DOTMA in the H(4)L or H(6)L(2+) forms are interpreted as arising from a slow exchange between two elongated geometries in which the methyl substituents are in one of the two possible equatorial-like positions, either close to or away from the carboxylic arms. The axial-like positions are sterically too crowded and cannot be occupied by the methyl groups. An elongated conformation is also adopted by DOTMA, (R)-2-4,7,10-tris-((R)-carboxyethyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecan-1-yl]propionic acid, in the H(6)L(2+) form. The rigidification of the polymethylated ligands allows a detailed NMR analysis that cannot be carried out on the parent unsubstituted ligand DOTA.