Mn
2+ has f
ive unpa
ired d-electrons, a long electron
ic relaxat
ion t
ime, and lab
ile water exchange, all of wh
ich make
it an attract
ive cand
idate for contrast agent appl
icat
ion
in med
ical magnet
ic resonance
imag
ing. In the quest forstable and nonlab
ile Mn
2+ complexes, we
explored a novel d
imer
ic tr
iazacyclononane-based l
igand bear
ing carboxylatefunct
ional groups, H
4ENOTA. The protonat
ion constants of the l
igand and the stab
il
ity constants of the complexesformed w
ith some endogenously
important metals (Ca
2+, Cu
2+, Zn
2+), as well as w
ith Mn
2+ and Ce
3+, have beenassessed by NMR methods, potent
iometry, and UV-v
is spectrophotometry. Overall, the thermodynam
ic stab
il
ity ofthe complexes
is lower as compared to that of the correspond
ing NOTA analogues (H
3NOTA, 1,4,7-tr
iaazacyclononane-1,4,7-tr
iacet
ic ac
id). The crystal structure of Mn
2(ENOTA)(H
2O)·5H
2O conta
ins two s
ix-coord
inatedMn
2+,
in add
it
ion to the three am
ine n
itrogens and the two oxygens from the pendent monodentate carboxylategroups, and one water (Mn2) or one br
idg
ing carboxylate oxygen (Mn1) completes the coord
inat
ion sphere of themetal
ion. In an aqueous solut
ion, th
is br
idg
ing carboxylate
is replaced by a water molecule, as ev
idenced by the
17O chem
ical sh
ifts and proton relax
iv
ity data that po
int to monohydrat
ion for both metal
ions
in the d
inuclearcomplex. A var
iable-temperature and -pressure
17O NMR study has been performed on [Mn
2(ENOTA)(H
2O)
2] toassess the rate and, for the f
irst t
ime on a Mn
2+ chelate, also the mechan
ism of the water exchange. The
innersphere water
is sl
ightly more lab
ile
in [Mn
2(ENOTA)(H
2O)
2] (
isubscr
ibe/journals/
inocaj/46/
i01/eqn/
ic0616582e10001.g
if"> = 5.5 × 10
7 s
-1) than
in the aqua
ion (2.1 × 10
7s
-1, Merbach, A. E.; et al.
Inorg. Chem. 1980,
19, 3696). The water exchange proceeds v
ia an almost l
im
it
ingassoc
iat
ive mechan
ism, as ev
idenced by the large negat
ive act
ivat
ion volume (
images/g
ifchars/Delta.g
if" BORDER=0 >
Vimages/entities/thermod.gif"> = -10.7 cm
3 mol
-1). Theproton relax
iv
it
ies measured on [Mn
2(ENOTA)(H
2O)
2] show a low-f
ield d
ispers
ion at ~0.1 MHz ar
is
ing from acontact
interact
ion between the Mn
II electron sp
in and the water proton nuclear sp
ins.