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Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) Agents: Quantum Chemistry and MRI
Author(s) -
Li Jikun,
Feng Xinxin,
Zhu Wei,
Oskolkov Nikita,
Zhou Tianhui,
Kim Boo Kyung,
Baig Noman,
McMahon Michael T.,
Oldfield Eric
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201503942
Subject(s) - diamagnetism , nuclear magnetic resonance , chemistry , chemical shift , saturation (graph theory) , contrast (vision) , mri contrast agent , magnetic resonance imaging , yield (engineering) , gadolinium , magnetic field , materials science , physics , radiology , medicine , mathematics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , combinatorics , optics , metallurgy
Diamagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) contrast agents offer an alternative to Gd 3+ ‐based contrast agents for MRI. They are characterized by containing protons that can rapidly exchange with water and it is advantageous to have these protons resonate in a spectral window that is far removed from water. Herein, we report the first results of DFT calculations of the 1 H nuclear magnetic shieldings in 41 CEST agents, finding that the experimental shifts can be well predicted ( R 2 =0.882). We tested a subset of compounds with the best MRI properties for toxicity and for activity as uncouplers, then obtained mice kidney CEST MRI images for three of the most promising leads finding 16 (2,4‐dihydroxybenzoic acid) to be one of the most promising CEST MRI contrast agents to date. Overall, the results are of interest since they show that 1 H NMR shifts for CEST agents—charged species—can be well predicted, and that several leads have low toxicity and yield good in vivo MR images.