A Cysteine-Based Tripodal Chelator with a High Affinity and Selectivity for Copper(I)

Abstract

A C(3)-symmetric ligand containing three converging cysteine chains anchored on a nitrilotriacetic acid moiety has been synthesized. This tripodal pseudopeptide, which provides three soft sulfur donor groups, exhibits a very high affinity for Cu(I) in either a monometallic complex or the cluster species Cu(6)L(3).