Preparative-scale separation of ethyl esters of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid by flash chromatography.

The penta ethyl ester of diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) can be used as a prodrug for decorporation of radionuclides in the event of an internal radiation incidents with transuranic elements. A C18 chromatography purification method was successfully developed using a step elution profile to isolate 0.5-3 g of the four ethyl esters of DTPA. Less than 11 % of the isolated di-ethyl and tri-ethyl esters of DTPA, and less than 20 % of the tetra-ethyl ester of DTPA, had degraded in phosphate buffered saline over a 168 h period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]