Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a form of radiation therapy that has two components. The first is the delivery of boron to a tumor. 1 This can be achieved chemically by boronating a tumor-seeking compound, which is stable in vivo and infused intravenously into a subject body. Then, the boronated compound selectively accumulates sufficient amounts in the tumor cells. The second is to irradiate with thermal neutrons. 1 The capture of a thermal neutron by a 10 B nucleus in a tumor causes the nucleus to split, releasing an α ( 4 He)-particle and a lithium ( 7 Li) nucleus in opposite directions.
2A suitable compound for BNCT must have low toxicity, high solubility in water for rapid injection, and a much higher concentration in the tumor cells than in normal cells. 3 A vast array of 10 B-enriched compounds have been synthesized and tested for BNCT. 4 Among a large number of boron compounds, 10 B-enriched p-carboxybenzeneboronic acid (PCBA) was firstly used in clinical trials as a BNCT agent for some brain-tumor patients. 3 According to those trials, PCBA was one of the most promising compounds as a BNCT drug from the standpoint of the tumor/brain boron ratio, but was found to have relatively high toxicity. 5 The solubility of PCBA is so low at physiological pH 7.4 that it is insufficient for medical uses. This compound dissolves in water by a sufficient amount for injection into patients, at pH 9.4. 6 Therefore, an experiment was carried out as Na-salt of PCBA adjusted as this pH. An injection of this alkaline solution resulted in respiratory depression, seizure, and often the death of some patients. 6,7 The authors suggested that if the solubility of PCBA increased at the physiological pH, then the above mentioned toxicity should be decreased.It is well-known that boric acid 8-10 and pboronophenylalanine (p-BPA) react with monosaccharide to form a soluble anionic complex. 11-13 PCBA has a boronic acid group. Therefore, it can be expected that the boronic acid moiety of PCBA may react with a monosaccharide to form an easily soluble anionic PCBA-monosaccharide complex, as indicated in Eq.(1), which should be recommended as an injection to patients for the BNCT of both brain tumor and malignant melanoma.Boronate anion of PCBA + Monosaccharide Complex.According to the above view, our interest has become involved with the characterization of PCBA ions in solution, and with the formation of soluble anionic complexes between the PCBA ion and a neutral polyhydroxy-compound of monosaccharides at the physiological pH. However, to the best of our knowledge, 11 B NMR studies for both the characterization of PCBA ions and for PCBA complexation with monosaccharides have not been reported so far.In this paper, we wish to describe the chemical behaviors of PCBA ions at various pH, the complex formation equilibria of the PCBA ion with several monosaccharides at the physiological pH based on an investigation of the 11 B NMR spectra, and the possible structure of this complex.
Experimental
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