Toxicity lanthanides

None of the lanthanide toxicity data gathered to date indicates that the lanthanides cause long-term health effects such as reproductive or carcinogenic toxicity. 

Little is known of the toxicity of terbium. It should be handled with care as with other lanthanide elements. 

The lanthanides are considered only slightly toxic in the Hodge-Stemer classification system and are safely handled with ordinary care (15). Inhalation of rare-earth vapors or dust should be avoided, and the skin washed thoroughly if it comes into contact with any dust or solution. 

In general the lanthanides, including cerium, have a low toxicity rating (17), especially when they are present in material having low aqueous solubiUty. When orally adrninistered poor absorption from the gastrointestinal tract tends to result in the lanthanides generally having Httle effect. The anion is often an important deterrninant in toxicity. 

The requirements for a successful agent for the removal of radioactive actinides from the body are even more stringent than for the use of lanthanides in diagnosis. For gadolinium it is necessary that the hydroxypyridinonate complex is very stable, to avoid significant release of toxic Gd (aq), is sufficiently soluble, and has an appropriate HLB. For actinide elimination it is also necessary for the chelator to be sufficiently soluble and to have suitable targeting properties. It is also desirable that the chelator does not have such a... 

The concept of using group I metal initiators was applied in order to minimize the toxicity generated by heavy metal residues in the end product PLAs when using metals like aluminum, tin, and lanthanides as initiators. In recent years, dinuclear lithium and macro-aggregates with phenolate ligands have attracted substantial interest, mainly due to uncommon strucmral feamres and their ability to catalyze formation of polyester and various other polymeric materials via ROP [28]. A series of lithium complexes supported with 2, 2-ethylidene-bis (4, 6-di-tert-butylphenol) (EDBP-H2) 2-6, (Scheme 6) are excellent initiators for the ROP of L-lactide in CH2CI2 at 0 °C and 25 °C [33-35]. In this case, the PDIs of the obtained PLAs were quite narrow (1.04—1.14) and a Unear relationship between and the monomer-to-initiator ratio ([M]o/[I]o) existed at 0 °C. Dimeric complexes 4 and 6 were the... 

As discussed above, lanthanides and group 3 homoleptic complexes are attractive initiators because of their moderate Lewis acidities, good activities of polymerization, and low toxicity [94, 111, 112, 115-118]. A list of lanthanide initiators and their polymerization activity is listed in Table 5. 

Recently, Kobayashi has disclosed significant advances regarding rare-earth and lanthanide triflates as catalysts for Mannich-type reactions [65-68] and there are several reviews available on catalytic Mannich-type reactions [69-73]. High catalytic activity, low toxicity, and low tolerance to moisture and air make lanthanide triflates valuable catalysts. However, the high cost of these catalysts restricts their use. Bismuth compounds are of interest as lower toxicity and cheaper alternatives to such catalysts. 

A compound that is able to influence the relaxation times of water protons has to be paramagnetic. In the Periodic System paramagnetic ions are to be found amongst the transition metals and the rare earth metals (lanthanides). However, it was well known, that the free ions of heavy metals are toxic. Lanthanide ions form soluble complexes with ligands such as phospholipids, amino acids and proteins that are present in plasma. The liver and the skeleton are the major sites of accumulation of free metal ions. Uptake in the liver is mediated by the hepa-tocytes [2]. 

For the application of lanthanide complexes in medical diagnosis and therapy, a general requirement is that the ion Ln3+ and the ligand should remain associated while the complex is in the body, i. e. their dissociation should be minimal, since the free ligand and Ln3+ are toxic. For the dissociation to be negligible, the complexes must be kinetically inert under physiological conditions. Since the complexation properties of the lanthanide ions and Y3+ are quite similar, it is of interest to compare the results obtained as concerns the kinetic behavior of Gd3+ complexes with those known for the complexes of other lanthanides and Y3+. 

The cadmium(II) complex corresponding to 9 (M = Cd n = 2) was the first texaphyrin made [6], This aromatic expanded porphyrin was found to differ substantially from various porphyrin complexes and it was noted that its spectral and photophysical properties were such that it might prove useful as a PDT agent. However, it was also appreciated that the poor aqueous solubility and inherent toxicity of this particular metal complex would likely preclude its use in vivo [29-31], Nonetheless, the coordination chemistry of texaphyrins such as 9 was soon generalized to allow for the coordination of late first row transition metal (Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Zn (II), Fe(III)) and trivalent lanthanide cations [26], This, in turn, opened up several possibilities for rational drag development. For instance, the Mn(II) texaphyrin complex was found to act as a peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst [32] and is being studied currently for possible use in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This work, which is outside the scope of this review, has recently been summarized by Crow [33],... 

The effectiveness in carbonylations of Ni(CO)4 is well documented, as well as its toxicity. Substitutes for this catalyst are therefore of much interest, and [Ni(CN)(CO)J], generated in situ from Ni(CN)2, CO and aqueous NaOH under phase transfer conditions, fulfills this role in many cases394. Under these conditions (1 atm CO), several types of organic halides are carbonylated, including allyl halides394, benzyl chlorides (with lanthanide salts)395, aryl iodides396, vinyl bromides397 and dibromocyclopropanes (equation 199)398. 

Weltje L. 2002. Bioavailability of lanthanides to freshwater organisms. Speciation, accumulation and toxicity [dissertation]. Delft DUP Science. 

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