Preparation and biological behaviour of some neutral 99mTc-carbonyl dithiocarbamates showing rapid hepatobiliary excretion

A simple procedure for the preparation of ^99mTc—carbonyl complexes of dithiocarbamates in high yield and radiochemical purity has been developed and used for the preparation of ^99mTc—carbonyl complexes of bis(2-hydroxyethyl)dithiocarbamate and bis(2-hydroxypropyl)dithiocarbamate. These complexes were found to be extremely stable and their biological behaviour was studied in mice and compared to that of the ^99mTcN- and the ^99mTc-complexes [prepared by dithionite (dit) reduction] of the same ligands. The carbonyl complexes were found to be efficient hepatobiliary agents and cleared more rapidly than the corresponding ^99mTcN- and ^99mTc(dit)-complexes.