19F PARASHIFT Probes for Magnetic Resonance Detection of H2O2 and Peroxidase Activity

Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species and peroxidase expression are often associated with inflammation and inflammatory diseases. We developed two novel Co­(II) complexes that can be used to detect oxidative activity associated with inflammation using 19F magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These agents display a large change in 19F chemical shift upon oxidation from Co­(II) to Co­(III), facilitating selective visualization of both species using chemical shift selective pulse sequences. This large chemical shift change is attributed to a large magnetic anisotropy in the high spin Co­(II) complexes. Importantly, the differing reactivity of the two agents allows for detection of either H2O2 production and/or the activity of peroxidase enzymes, providing two useful platforms for 19F MR hot spot imaging of oxidative events associated with biological inflammation.