Newer Chelating Agents for in Vivo Toxic Metal Mobilization

Abstract

Studies directed towards the development of more effective chelating agents for the removal of toxic metals from the mammalian body have shown that a considerable number of properties, in addition to the stability constant, may be of critical importance. These additional properties include penetration into target organs, molecular weight, toxicity, ionic charge at physiological pH, chirality, degree of chain branching, rates of ligand substitution reactions of the toxic metal ion and rates of excretion and metabolism of the chelating agent. The way in which these properties may be manipulated is illustrated by an examination of recent developments of compounds for the in vivo mobilization of cadmium, iron and plutonium.

Key Words:

• chelating agents
• toxic metal mobilization
• cadmium
• iron
• plutonium