Water-soluble Bis(thiosemicarbazonato)copper(ii) Complexes.

The synthesis of four new water-soluble bis(thiosemicarbazone) ligands and their copper(<span class="sc-ex">ii</span>) complexes is presented and their potential to be new ligands for copper radiopharmaceuticals is discussed. The ligands and complexes have been characterized by a combination of NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography. The electrochemical behaviour of two of the copper(ii) complexes was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and revealed that both complexes exhibited a quasi-reversible redox process attributed to a CuII/CuI process. Two of the new ligands were radiolabelled with positron-emitting 64Cu with a view to assessing their potential as ligands that bind radioactive copper isotopes for application in diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals. The cellular uptake of the copper complexes was investigated in SH-SY5Y cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]