A variable-temperature, -pressure, and -ionic strength 1 H NMR study of the DOTA complexes of different trivalent cations (Sc, Y, La, Ce f Lu) (DOTA ) 1,4,7,10-tetraaza-1,4,7,10-tetrakis(carboxymethyl)cyclododecane) yielded data that are in contradiction with the hitherto used model of only two enantiomeric pairs of diastereoisomers that differ in the ligand conformations. A two-isomer equilibrium cannot explain the newly observed apparent reversal of the isomer ratio at the end of the series. As both conformers may lose their inner sphere water molecule, a coordination equilibrium may be superimposed on this conformational equilibrium, as shown by large positive reaction volumes for the isomerization of [Ln(DOTA)(

The structure and dynamics of the lanthanide(II1) complexes of the bis(propy1amide) of diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA-PA3 in aqueous solution have been investigated by I3C and I7O NMR. With the use of the longitudinal 13C relaxation times of the NdlI1 complex it is shown that the organic ligand is bound to the lanthanide(II1) ion in an octadentate fashion via the three nitrogens of the diethylenetriamine backbone, the three carboxylate groups, and the two amide oxygens. I7O NMR measurements show that the coordination sphere is completed by one water ligand. The inversion of the lanthanide-bound nitrogens is precluded, and therefore four diastereomeric pairs of isomers are possible for these complexes. Low-temperature I3C NMR spectra show that all these isomers occur in solution. Three dynamic processes have been identified by means of variable-temperature NMR measurements: (i) rapid rotations of the carboxylate groups, (ii) racemization at the middle N atom via interconversions between the two possible conformations of the ethylene bridges, and (iii) racemization at the terminal N atoms of the diethylenetriamine backbone via decoordination-inversion-cmrdination. The barriers of the interconversions between the enantiomers have been determined by line-shape analysis and from coalescence temperatures. A comparison is made with the LnlI1 diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) complexes.

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