Electronic Effects of Ligand Substitution in a Family of CoII2 PARACEST pH Probes

We report three new Co-2-based paramagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer (PARACEST) probes with the ability to ratiometrically quantitate pH. A Co-2(II) complex, [LCo2 (etidronate)](-), featuring tetra(carboxamide) and OH-substituted etidronate ligands with opposing pH-dependent CEST peak intensities, was previously shown to exhibit a linear correlation between log(CESTOH /CESTNH) and pH in the pH range 6.5-7.6 that provided a sensitivity of 0.99(7) pH unit(-1) at 37 degrees C. Here, we demonstrate through a series of CF3-functionalized Co-2(II) complexes [(L-X')-Co-2 (etidronate)](-) (X = NO2, F, Me), that modest changes in the electronic structure of Co-II centers through remote ligand substitution can significantly affect the NMR and CEST properties of Co-2-based PARACEST probes. Variable-pH NMR and CEST analyses reveal that the chemical shifts of the ligand protons are highly affected by the nature of the X substituent. The ratios of OH and NH CEST peak intensities at 115 and 88, 93 and 79, and 88 and 76 ppm for X = NO2, F, and Me, respectively, afford pH calibration curves with remarkably high sensitivities of 1.49(9), 1.48(7), and 2.04(5) pH unit(-1) across the series. The 1.5-2-fold enhancement in pH sensitivity for the CF3-functionalized Co-2 probes stems from the complete separation of the OH and NH CEST peaks. Furthermore, incorporation of electron-withdrawing CF3 groups shifts the detection window to a more acidic range of pH 6.2-7.4. Finally, the Co-2(II) complexes are found to be extremely robust toward substitution and oxidation in aqueous solutions. Taken together, these results highlight the unique ability of transition metal-based PARACEST probes to provide a highly sensitive concentration-independent measure of pH and demonstrate that modest ligand modifications can be a powerful tool for optimizing the pH sensing performance of these probes.