CA1339200C - Macropolycyclic rare earth complexes and application as fluorescent tracers - Google Patents

Abstract

A biological complex which consists of a biologically active molecule, associated by coupling or adsorption to a macropolycyclic rare earth complex, said macropolycyclic rare earth complex consisting of at least one rare earth salt complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the general formula:

(see fig.I) in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent, and the divalend radicals A, B and C independently of one another are hydrocarbon chains, said hydrocarbon chains optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and said hydrocarbon chains optionally interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, at least one of the radicals A, B or C also containing a least one molecular unit or essentially consisting of a molecular unit, said molecular unit possessing a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion. The invention also relates lo the macropolycyclic rare earth complexes as above defined as well as to a process for detection or determination of an analyte and to a process for enhancing the fluorescence of a rare earth.

Description

13~3?~

Macropolycyclic rare earth complexes and application as fluorescent tracers The present invention, which is the result of work carried out in collaboration with Professor J.M.
LEHN and his research team at the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, relates to the field of fluorescence and more particularly of fluorescent macro-polycyclic complexes which are especially suitable as tracers in immunological determinations.
It is known that detection methods using fluorescence are intrinsically very sensitive and could make it possible to obtain lower detection limits than those reached by means of radioactivity measurements, in particular through the use of laser sources (I.
Wieder, Immunofluorescence and related staining tech-niques, 1978, Elsevier).
In practice, however, these detection limits are not reached because the measurement is made in a matrix which does not have the properties required to achieve this optimum. In general, the measurement medium is turbid and favors diffusion, and other molecules fluorescing at the same wavelength can be present in the measurement medium.
In some cases, the improvements made to the measuring equipment are not sufficient to substantially improve this detection limit or are very expensive (laser, monochromators, etc.).
This state of things is even more troublesome in the field of biochemistry and immunology, where very small quantities of active molecules have to be measured in biological media which can be turbid or can contain proteins or other molecules which are themselves fluorescent (turbidity and intrinsic fluorescence of the serum).
In immunological determinations using a

- 2 - 1339200 fluorescent tracer, when the antigen or antibody is labeled with the fluorescent molecule, the latter must possess the following properties:
- it must possess a chemical function which permits coupling with the biological molecule without de-naturing it or modifying its immunological properties;
- the molar absorption coefficient of the fluorescent molecule must be as high as possible;
- the quantum yield of fluorescence must be the highest;
- the Stokes shift must be as large as possible;
- the emission wa~elength must be greater than 500 nm if possible; and - it must be soluble in water or buffer solutions.
These conditions are specified for example in the article by E. SOINI in Clin. Chem. 25, 353 (1979). Now, the molecules known to date are far from possessing all these properties.
The fluorescence of certain rare earth chelates has been known for many years through the work relating to their application in the field of lasers (A.P.B.
SINHA, Spectroscop. Inorg. Chem. 2, 255 (1971)).
These complexes are formed of:
- firstly a chelating molecule possessing an electron system capable of populating the triplet state Tl by inter-system crossing after excitation of the singlet state Sl following the absorption of luminous energy; and - secondly a rare earth ion which, in the case of fluorescence applications, possesses a strong ion fluorescence intensity (Eu, Tb) or a moderate intensity (Sm, Dy), and whose resonance le~el is populated by the transfer of non-radiant energy from the triplet state of the complexing agent.
In order to ~btain a strong fluorescence of the - 1~3920~ -rare earth chelate, it is necessary for the triplet energy of the complexing molecule to be greater than that of the resonance level of the ion, and for it to have a sufficient life-time (preponderance of this type of deactivation compared with other processes such as phosphorescence and non-radiant deactivation, for example thermal deactivation).
In this case, after excitation in the ab-sorption band of the chelate, a fluorescence characteris-tic of the rare earth ion is observed.
These compounds have great advantages inthe field of detection by the measurement of fluorescence;
for example, they are characterized by :
- a large Stokes shift, - a high molar absorption coefficient,E, relative to that of the rare earth, - the possibility of simultaneous detection of several chelates by changing the rare earth, - an emission spectrum characteristic of the rare earth (line spectrum,~ of maximum emission ~ 500 nm), and - a long life-time ~from a microsecond to a millisecond).
U.S. Patent 4 058 732 describes a method of analytical spectroscopy by fluorescence which uses fluorescent molecules (rare earth chelates) having a relatively long life-time. In view of the fact that the dif-fusion due to the particles of the matrix, and the fluores-cence of the majority of the organic molecules which make up the matrix, are short-lived phenomena (generally lasting less than 1 ~sec.), the saia patent recommends a pulsed excitation and a functionalized rare earth chelate for labeling the biological molecules to be identified, detection taking place between each pulsation and after a sufficiently long time for the undesired phenomena to have substantially decreased.

133921~0 According to the prior art cited below, rare earth chelates theoretically satisfy all the conditions for forming a class of ideal fluorescent molecules, in particular as tracers for biological molecules in immunological determinations, in cytology and for cell classifiers: -- U.S. Patent 4 058 732 - SOINI, Clin. Chem. 25, 353 (1979) - L.M. VALLARI~'O et al. in Automation of Uterine Cancer Cytology 2, Proceedings of 2nd Int. Conf., G.L. WIED, G.F. GAHR and P.H. BARTEL, Editors, Tutorials of Cytology, Chicago LL 1977.
Now, in practice, it is found that the chelates used hitherto do not have all the following properties required by these applications, these being mainly:
- a high quantum yield of fluorescence and a high molar absorption coefficient, - a suitable triplet energy of the chelating agent, - non-inhibition by the solvent (water or other solvent) or by molecules present in the medium in which the measurement is made, - ease of functionalization for the purpose of coupling with molecules of biological interest or other molecules, - selectivity of the chelation in favor of the rare earth and at the expense of other cations which may be present in large quantities in the measurement medium, - solubility in water under the conditions of applica-tion of the immunological determinations, and - a high stability, in particular at low dilution.
The ~-diketone chelates described in U.S. Patent 4 048 732 are only sparingly soluble in water and bio-logical media, if at all, and their fluorescence is largely inhibited by water.
Other chelates hsve been proposed as tracers in immunological determinations; in particular, there may be mentioned the chelates derived fro~ EDTA, HEDTA and DTPA, imidodiacetate and the like, and described for exa~ple in: Proc. ~at. Acad. Sci. USA 72, 4764 (1975), V.S. Patent 4 374 120, European Patent Application A-0068875 published January 5, 1983 andGerman Offenlegungsschrift

3 033 691 published March 19, 1981. Their efficacy is assumed to originate from the high value of their stability constant, which is generally greater then 1ol0 A criterion of this kind, based solely on thermo-]0 dynamic considerations, is certainly not c~fficie~t since it nas been sho~n that the life-ti~e of d Tb(~II) ~DTA ccm~lex is increased by the ~ddition of apotrans-ferrin ~Biochem. l9, 5~57, 198~), w~ich is characteristic c~ a protein-chelate bond.
It has recentlg been recommended, ~hen using tracers ~f the Eu(III) EDTA type such as those described in U.S. Patent 4 374 120, to use a buffer containing DTP~ in order to re~ove the free europium vhich has dissociated from the chelate, clearly pro~ing the in-s~abilitg of such chelates (Clin. Chem. 29, 60, 1983).
This stEte of the--prior srt sho~s that the rare earth chel~tes employed hitherto cannot be used st lov dilution in aqueous media containing other cations or in biological mEdia, and in particular in i0munological deter~inations, and that criteria such as the kinetic stability (rate of dissociation of the complex) and t~e selecti~itg of ~or~ticn of the rare earth comple~ should be taken into account.
It ~ay be noted moreover that, by ~irtue of their high formation constant (in general ~ 10l~), thD
majority of the chelates of the prior art have found sn application in technical r imagery, vhich uses r-e~itting hesvg ions of relati~elg short life-ti0e,0bt~ined - in dilute ~queous solutions. The fixatlon of the ion ~ust then take place rapidl~ on the ~olecule of biological - 133~200 interest which carries the chelating agent;- in par-ticular, the rste of formation of the chelate must be high:
.

L + n EDTA ~ ~ (EDTA) . ~ n kl and k-1 bein8 the rate constants of formation and dissociation respecti~ely; at equilibrium, we have:

kl L (EDTA)n k-l ~L] [~TA]

For the complexes used hitherto, and for the reasons referred to above, the chelates which have ~lways been used make it possible to obtain a high value of kl 1~1.9 1022 M 1 min. 1 for Eu3+ EDTA - see J. inorg. nucl. Chem. 1971, 33, p. 127]. Consequently, for a given value of K, the dissociation rate constant is relatively large, which means that the rate of ion exchange between the chelate and the solution is relatively rapid.
Macropolycyclic rare earth complexes haYe now been found which possess excellent properties of selecti~ity and stability, especially of kinetic stability in aqueous media and biological media. These macropolycyclic complexes are particularly suitable as fluorescent tracers for biological substances in im~unological detection or determination techniques using fluorescence. They are also suitable as reagents in luminescence reactions.
It has actually been found that it is possible to enhance the fluorescence of a rare earth ion in-aqueous solution by complexing the ion with a macropoly-cyclic compound possessing a donor unit with a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the rare earth ion, and by exciting the donor unit.
Whereas the excitation of a rare earth ion produces a very weak fluorescence because rare earths generally have low molar absorption coefficients ~, excitation of the donor unit of the macropolycyclic compound defined below makes it possible to enhance the fluorescence characteristic of the rare earth ion.
The rare earth complexes thus formed are excellent fluorescent tracers; furthermore, these are compounds which are stable in aqueous media and possess a very high selectivity in respect of rare earth ions.
In contrast to the chelates of the prior art, which are characterized by a high formation constant, the rare earth complexes according to the invention have as essential characteristic a high kinetic stability (low rate of dissociation). This characteris-tic is all the more important because the biological solutions used in immunological detection and determina-tion methods generally contain proteins which themselves are also capable of fixing the rare earth ion.. On the other hand, the rate of formation of the complexes of the invention is not critical. The formation of the rare earth ion complex, on the one hand, and the coupling of the resulting complex with the biological molecule, on the other, can be carried out separately. Conse-quently, the formation of the rare earth ion complex according to the invention can be carried out under non-biological conditions (use of organic solvents,possibility of supplying energy, time, etc.).
According to a first feature, the present in~en-tion therefore relates to the use of macropolyc~clic rare earth complexes as fluorescent tracers, especially in immunological detection and determination methods, the said complexes consisting of at least one rare earth salt complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the general formula:
~,, R Z / ~ \ Z - R I, ~ ~3,/

in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom such as nitrogen, carbon or phosphorus, R is nothing or repre-sents hydrogen, the hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical, snd the divalent radicals ~ , ~ and ~ independently of one another are hydrocarbon chains which optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and are optionally interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, at least one of the radicals ~ , ~ or ~ also containing at least one molecular unit or essentially consisting of a molecular unit, the said molecular unit possessing a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion.
According to another feature, the invention also relates to a process for enhancing the fluorescence of a rare earth ion, which consists in complexing at least one rare earth ion with a macropolycyclic compound, such as defined above, possessing a molecular unit with a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the rare earth ion, and in exciting the complex thus formed at the absorption w.~velength of the said molecular unit.
The rare earth complexes defined above are new compounds except for the europium and terbium complexes obtained with the macropolycyclic compound of the formula below:

-9- 133s2ao \
N ~ R=H or NH2 \~/ ~/ ~//
O
/ \ ' Thus, the present invention also relates, by way of new compounds, to the rare earth complexes consisting of at least one rare earth salt complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the formula I above, with the proviso that, if the rare earth salt is a europium or terbium salt, Z is nitrogen, ~ is-(CH )2-0-c6H3R-O-(cH2)2_ and with R=B or NH2, ~ and ~ are not simultaneously the radical -(cH2)2-o-(cs2)2-o-(cH2)2-in one case and the radical -(CH2)2-O-~C~2~2- in the other.
The hydrocarbon chains which form the radicals O , ~ and ~ can contain 2 or more carbon atoms and can optionally be interrupted by one or more hetero-atoms chosen from the group consisting of oxygen, sulfur or nitrogen atoms.
The preferred hydrocarbon chains for the pur-poses of the invention are polyether chains, in par-ticular ethoxylated or polyethoxylated chains.
The molecular unit which constitutes an essential component of the macropolycyclic compound according to the invention is a triplet energy donor unit composed of mo-lecules or groups of molecules possessing a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion.
The energy transfer takes place from the triplet level of the donor unit to one of t~e emission levels -l33~2ao of the complexed rare earth. For example, europium possesses the emission levels 5Do at 17270 cm 1, 5Dl at 19030 cm 1 and possibly 5D2, and terbium possesses the emission level 5D4 at 20480 cm 1.
The triplet energy donor units suitable for the purposes of the invention must possess a triplet energy which is greater than or equal to that of the emission levels of the rare earth ion. For example, in the case of the europium and terbium complexes according to the invention, the triplet level of the donor unit must be greater than 17270 cm 1.
As the phenomenon of phosphorescence is due to the radiant deactivation of a triplet state, a preferred criterion for the donor units can be the phosphorescence emission wavelength of these units. For example, the chosen units will emit a phosphorescence at lower wave-lengths (higher energies) than those corresponding to the population of the emission levels of the rare earth.
In the present case, the phosphorescence wavelength of the donor unit will have to be below 580 nm.
It is pointed out that the complexes according to the invention can have one or more donor units, the said donor units constituting either all or part of the radicals ~ , O and O .
Without implying a limitation, molecular units which can be used are any triplet sensitizers having the requisite triplet energy, for example those described in European Patent Application A-0068875 or in Spectroscop.
Inorg. Chem. 2, 255, 1971, these documents being cited in the present description by way of reference.
Particularly preferred molecular units for the purposes of the invention are phenanthroline, anthracene, benzene, naphthalene, biphenyl and terphenyl, bipyridines, biquinolines such as the bisisoquinolines, for example 2,2'_ bipyridine, azobenzene, azopyridine, pyridine or 2,2'-bisisoquinoline.

133~200 The chains below may be mentioned in particular as examples of radicals ~ , ~ and ~ containing an energy donor unit:
-C2H4-Xl-C6H4-x2 2 4 -C2H4-xl-cH2-c6H4-cH2 X2 2 4 Xl snd X2, which can be identical or different, denote o~ygen, nitrogen or sulfur;

-Ic~

- CH21~L CH2--X X
.. ~--C-CH2-0 ~ ~0 CH2 C

X being oxygen or hydrogen.
The macropolycyclic rare esrth complexes accor-ding to the invention can be obtained by the conventional processes for the preparation of metal complexes, which consist in reacting the complexing compound with a com-pound donating the cation to be complexed. Processes of this type are described especially in U.S. Patents 3 888 377, 3 966 766 and 4 156 683, which are cited in the present description by way of reference.
For example, the macropolycyclic complexes can 133~200 be obtained by reacting a rare earth cation donor com-pound with the macropolycyclic compound having the characteristics defined above, each compound advan-tageously being in solution, preferably in the same solvent or in compatible solvents which are inert to-wards complex formation. In general, acetonitrile, DMS0 or ethanol is used as the solvent.
The rare earth cation donor compound which can be used is any rare earth salt, advantageously a chloride an a~etylacetonate or a nitrate.
The reaction is advantageously carried out at the boiling point of the solven't.
If the macropolycyclic complex formed is soluble in the reaction solvent, it is isolated from the solution by evaporation to dryness. If the macro-polycyclic complex formed crystallizes from the reaction solvent, it is separated off by filtration or any other appropriate conventional means. The complexes thus obtained can be purified by crystallization.
The above reaction can also be carried out using a solution of the macropolycyclic compound and,the cation donor compound in the crystalline form. A synergistic agent for protecting against deactivation can also be introduced into the coordination sphere of the cation, as described in J. Chem. Phys. 40, 2790 (1964) and 41, 157 (1964).
In the remainder of the present description, the macropolycyclic complexes according to the invention are also called "cryptates" and the macropolycyclic com-pound by itself is also called "cryptand". The nomen-clature as defined by LEHN will be adopted below for denoting the cryptates and cryptands. For this purpose, reference may be made especially to the a-rticles by J.M. LEHN in Struct. 80nding (Berlin) 16, 1, 1973 and Acc. Chem. Res. 11, 49 (1978).

All the rare earth ions are suitable for the purposes of the present invention. However, preference will be given to those which exhibit the most intense ion fluorescence, i.e. terbium and europium and, to a lesser extent, samarium and dysprosium.
As macropolycyclic compounds suitable for the purposes of the invention, it is possible to use the known cryptands, for example:
1) The benzo-cryptands of the general formula:

N \ ~ / N

in which ~ , ~ and ~ independently of one another represent the groups 2B~ 2 and 1, which have the following meanings:
2B = -C2H4-Xl-C6H4-X2 C2 4 -C2H4-xl-cH2-c6H4-cH2 X2 2 4 2 = -C2H4-Yl-c2H4-y2 C2 4 = -C2H4-Z-C2H4 in which Xl 2' Yl 2 and Z each represent a heteroatom chosen from the group consisting of oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen, it being possible for Xl and X2, and Yl and Y2, to be identical or different.
Examples of such cryptands which may be mentioned are those in which the units ~ , ~ and ~ are respectively composed as follows:

13392~0 ~ ~ ~ = (2Bll); (2B21); (2B22); (2B2B2); and the compound of the formula:

~ ~N ~
0~ \ ~0 0~/ ~~
~,o~oJ

2) The cryptands containing nitrogen heterocycles, such as those described in JACS 99, 4583 (1977), of the formula I in which:
- ~ and ~ , which are identical, represent the polyethoxylated chain of the formula ( 2)2 ~ (CH2)2-o-(cH2)2-~ and - ~ is a hydrocarbon chain containing a nitrogen heterocycle as the energy donor unit.
Examples of such compounds which may be mentioned in particular are the compounds below:

- (22)pyridinamide ~

. .

15 - (22)pyridinamine N ~ J ~ N

'~' - t22)bipyridine IC 2 72 -15- 1 3392 f~ o '/~
o=c C-O
- (22) bipyridinamide 1 ~

~ ~Y ~
- (22)azopyridine o~c\ c /O

3) The cryptands containing several nitrogen hetero-cycles as donor units, such as the compound of the formula below:

0~~0 N~ O O~N
\ /\o /~)\o described in J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1979, 101, p. 1047.

4) The polycyclic cryptands containing aromatic units, for example the compounds corresponding to the formula below:

~CH2- C N

- ,~~ ~~

~H2 ~ Q~
~C. ~ X . o, or the compounds of the formula I in which the hydro-carbon chain carrying the donor unit or units is 133~2~0 interrupted by a hetero~acroc~cle, such as the compounds of the formulae below:

O/YZ ~A ~N~

2 ~ ~N

X ~ 0, N

/N o~ o /~\ ~

~ ~ R = ~
.~oAo~
- N h~
\_~o /o~

Such compounds are described especially in :
Angew. Chemie 86, 443 (1974); Tet. letters 21, 941 (1980) and Chem. Comm. 833, 1981.
Other cryptands which can be used are the macropolycyclic compounds of the formula I abo~e in which the molecular unit or units possessing a triplet energy greater than the energy of the rare earth to be cryptated are chosen from the group consisting of phenanthroline, anthracene, bipyridines and the bisquinolines, possibly 133~700 ~ t8 ~
substituted in appropriate positions and by groups capable of increasing the efficiency of the transfer of energy or to modify the excitation spectrum of the rare earth cryptate LJ. Phys. Chem. 1964, vol. 68, p. 3324~.
One example of such groups is the phenyl group.
In these new macropolycyclic compounds, at least one of the radicals ~ , ~ or ~ preferably corresponds to one of_the formulae_ below :

~ c,_o U C~lCH2 --C--CH2 ~CH2--C-- ;--CH2--CH2~ CH2--CH2--H~ O ~ C=O

lS ~ or ~ particular class of these macro-polycyclic compounds consists of the compounds of the 1~3~2~0 formula I in which Z is nitrogen, ~ and ~ are two mono- or polyethoxylated chains, preferably diethoxy-lated, and ~ corresponds to one of the formulae above.
These new macropolycyclic compounds also include the compounds of the formula I in which ~ and ~ each represent the group :

~ N N

f 2 CH~

and ~ is one of the following groups :

~ ~ or H2C CH2 H2 CH~

/

~ ~ or 10~ N N ~ N N ~

H21C C\2 H~C C~2 Another particular class of these new macropolycyclic compounds is constituted by the compounds of the formula I in which Z is nitrogen and and G are identical and represent one of the above indicated heterocycles, namely the 2, 2'-bipyridine and phenanthroline.

133~0~

_ 20 -The macropolycyclic compounds of the for-mula I in which the molecular moiety or moieties are phenanthroline, anthracene, bipyridines or ~uinolines are new compounds with the exception of the compounds of formula I in which ~ and ~ are each a chain of the formula -(C~2)2-~-~cH2)2 ~ (CH2)2 qroup of the formula N ~ ~
~ C CH2 or the group of formula ~ N N
OjC C=O
which are described in Chen. Ber. 111, ~aqes 200-204 (1978~.
The macropolycyclic compounds of the for-mula I can be obtained by known chemical processes invol-ving mainly condensation and/or addition reactions.
The processes described in French Patent 70 21079 (2052947) and U.S. Patents 3 888 877, 3 966 766 and 4 1 56 683 may be mentioned in particular as exampies of such processes. These processes are especially suitable for the preparation of compounds of the formula I in which Z is nitroqen or phosphorus.
To obtain compounds of the formula I in ~hich Z is carbon and ~ is as defined above, analogous condensation processes will be used.
In all cases, it suffices to use, as startlng materials, chemical compounds each containlng one of the radicals ~, ~ or ~ and ends groups capable of being substituted or containing radicals which can easily be removed.

By way of example, it may be indiczted that the compound of the formula I in which Z is carbon, R is the hydroxyi sroup and ~l ~ and ~ each represent 2,2'-bipyridine can be obtained by condensing 6,6'-dilithiobipyridine with 6,6'-dicyano-2,2'-bipyri-dine, hydrolyzing the cyano group of the macrocycle thus obtained and condensing the resulting product with 6,6'-dilithiobipyridine.
In a preferred procedure, the new macro-polycyclic compour.ds of the formula I in which Z is nitroc,en and ~ and ~ are polyethoxylated chains can be obtained by reacting :
- the nitrogen mac-ocycle consisting of the two poly-ethoxylated chains, with -the hydrocarbon chain containing-the said molecular unit, the said chain having cleavable end groups such as, for example, halogeno groups.
This cou?ling reaction is advantageously carried out in an anhydrous solvent, for example di-methyl sulfoxide (DMS0) or acetonitrile, if approp~iate in the presence of a reducing agent, such as sodium hydri-de or sodium car~onate. The macropolycyclic compound is then obtained ir. the form of a sodium salt.
The reaction is preferably carried ou. at a temperature below the boiling point of the solvent, for example at between 60 and 100~C.
It is possible, in order to obtain the free macropolycyclic compound to react said sodium salt witp silver ni~rate to form the macropolycyclic silver complex, which is there.after treated with a stream of H2S. The formed precipitate is then neutralized with a solution of (N(CH3)40~ and extraced with methylene chlori-de.
It will be noted that the macropolycyclic rare earth complex according to the invention may be obtained from the free complex or from a salt thereof, X

such as the sodium salt for example.
In the above process, any one of the nitrogen-containing monocyclic macrocycles described in U.S.
Patent 3 966 766 can advantageously be used as the macrocycle, the preferred compounds being : 1,7,10,16-tetraoxa-4,13-diazacyclooctadecane of the general formula :

~ 0/ \0~
~ \ / ~
or 1,7,16-trioxa-4,13-diazacyclodecane of the general formula :

H ~ ~ ~H

It is pointed out that the preferred complexes according to the invention, obtained from the above macrocycles, can be considered as derivatives of cryptates of the type 222 or 221, in which the ether units in at least one of the hydrocarbon chains have been substituted by energy donor units (in general aromatics or polyaromatics possibly containing heteroatoms)-The europium cryptates of type 222 or 221 have very low rates of dissociation in aqueous solutions, altho~gh their formation constant is relatively low (K = 10 and 105 o~ the cryptates 221 and 222 res-pectively - Inorganic Chem. 1981, 20, p. 616 and J.A.C.S.
1980, 102, p. 2278. Su~h cryptates do not satisfy the stability criteria def~ned in the prior art. On the other hand, substitution of the ether units by energy donor units, which provides the preferred complexes according to the invention, does not modify the dissociation characteristic of these cryptates but makes it possible, by excitation of the energy donor unit in its absorption band, to obtain a greatly enhanced fluorescence characteristic of the cryptated r,are earth.

_ 23 -If the rare earth cryptates forming the subject of the present invention are used specifically to label biologically active molecules with the aid of a covalent bond, they can be substituted on one or more S of their constituent atoms by one or more sufficiently accessible substituents possessing one or more molecular units which permit covalent coupling with the biological molecule under operating conditions compatible with its biological integrity.
Non-limiting examples of these molecular units which may be mentioned are alkylamino, arylamino, isothiocyano, cyano, isocyano, thiocyano, carboxyl, hydroxyl, mercapto, phenol, imidazole, aldehyde, epoxide, thionyl halide, sulfonyl halide, nitrobenzoyl halide, 1; carbonyl halide, triazo, succinimido, anhydride, halo-genoacetate, hydrazino, dihalogenotriazinyl and other radicals (8iol. Chem.245, 3059 (1970). The length of the arm bonding the macrocyclic complex to the molecule of biological interest can vary from 1 to 20 atoms, for example, and can contain carbon atoms as well as heteroatoms such as N, 0, S and P. The invention therefore also relates to the biological complexes consisting of a biologlcal molecule which is associated by coupling or adsorption with a macropolycyclic complex according to the invention.
The coupling can be carried out using any of the reagents described for this purpose in the litera-tu~e and the labeled molec~le can be separated from the unreacted macropolycyclic complex by any suitable means of separation (for exa~ple gel filtration).
Among the molecules of b~ological lnterest which can advantageously be labeled with the rare earth cryptates forming the subject of the present invention, there may be mentioned, without implying a limitation, antigens, antibodies; monoclonal antibodies, fragments 13392~0 and antibody-fragment combinations, drugs, receptors, hor-mones, hormone receptors, bacteria, steroids, amino acids, peptides, vitamins, viruses, nucleotides or poly-nucleotides in hybridization methods, enzymes and their substrates, lectins, nucleic acids, DNA and RNA.
The macropolycyclic rare earth complexes according to the present invention find an important application as fluorescent tracers in immunological determinations, either in the so-called methods of determination by competition or in the so-called methods of determination by excess, in the homogeneous or hetero-geneous phase, the said determinations being des-cribed in the prior art (LANDO~, Ann. Clin. Biochem. 1981, 18, p. 253 and SOINI, Clin. Chem. 25, 353, 1979).
In the heterogeneous methods, it is possible advantageously to use :

13392~0 -_ 25 _ - tubes coated with sntibodies specific for the sub-stance to be determined, and to read off the fluores-cence by the methods described above, directly through the tube (Clin. Chem. 29, 60, 1983), - or a different solid phase, in particular a narrow strip or a gelatinous film on which a medium containing a specific antibody has been deposited beforehand, the fluorescence being read off at a different angle from the excitation and the reflection of the exciting wave or directly through the support, if this is transparent.
Because of the line spectrum of these tracers, it is also possible to detect several antigens simul-taneously either by using cryptates of different rare earths whose fluorescence lines do not overlap (for example Tb and Eu), or by using conventional fluorescent tracers (fluorescein or rhodamine) and tracers according to the present invention.
Another application relates to immunochemistry, where the fluorescence of the labeled cell is detected by microscopy in the manner described by R.C. NAIRN in "Fluorescent Protein Tracing, Longman Group Ltd.", 1976, which also has the possibility of carrying out multi-detection.
Another application of the rare earth complexes according to the invention relates to cytology and cell classifiers, where the use of a tracer having a line spectrum at high wavelength, coupled with the use of conventional tracers, makes it possible to perform multi-parameter analyses.
Furthermore, with a given cryptand and different rare earth ions, it is possible, with a single exciting wavelength, which is that of the molecular UDit trans-ferring the energy and which can be 8enerated with a single source (for example a laser), to obtain two fluorescence line spèctra characteristic of the two cryptated ions (for example Tb and Eu) and thus disclosing the respective biological molecules to which the cryptates are fixed.

Another application relates to the use of the rare earth cryptates according to the present invention in the field of genetic engineering, for example as indicators in hybridization reactions such as those described in European Patent Applications A-0 070 685 and A-0 070 687, both published January 26, 1983.

The invention will now be described in greater detail by means of the non-limiting illustrative examples below.

Example 1 A- Preparation of (22) phenanthroline (hereafter called: (22)phen) ~ ~o~
~O ~ SO > N O ~' Br 8: 60-~OO-C ~
di-CH2Br-phen N2O4 macrocycle (22)phen The solvent used in this synthesis is DMSO, which was dried for several days over a 4 ~ molecular sieve and, if appropriate, distilled in vacuo.
1 mmol (366 mg) of dry and freshly chromatographed dibromomethylphenanthroline compound (di-CH2Br-phen) was dissolved in 10 to 20 ml of DMSO. It was transferred to a dry dropping funnel; the volume was made up to 100 ml with dry DMSO.

13392~0 100 to 200 mg of NaH in oil (FLUKA) were placed in a dry round-bottomed flask; 5 ml of dry toluene (or hexane) were added to the mixture, which was left to settle. The solution was evaporated in vacuo (1 torr) for 1 hour. The NaH was redissolved in 20 ~l of dry DMS0 (evolution of H2), with heating to 50~C if appropriate.
1 mmol of the N204 macrocycle (262 mg) ~as dried and 10 to 20 ml of dry DMS0 were added.
The solutions of NaH and ~2~4 macrocycle were each introduced into a dropping funnel and the volume was made up to ]00 ml with dry DMS0.
100 ml of dry DMS0 were placed in a three-necked round-bottomed flask. This flask was equipped with the two dropping funnels, a reflux condenser and a drying system (silica gel). The flask was heated to 60-100~C,with magnetic stirring.
The contents of the two dropping funnels were simultaneously added dropwise over a period of 1 to 2 hours.
The reaction mixture was heated for 1 hour after the reactants had been added. The mixture was then distilled in vacuo to remove the solvent.
It is possible to add a small quantity of water in order to remove the hydrides and the bases.
The reaction mixture was reduced to dryness to give a dry or pasty red residue.
100 to 200 ml of CH2Cl2 were added; the paste was triturated at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The residue ~as filtered off and washed. The organic liquid phase was retained and evaporated in vacuo. The residue obtained was dried in vacuo (1 torr, at least 30 minutes).
100 ml of ethyl ether were addçd to the residue, the components were mixed and the mixture was left to settle; this operation was repeated 3 to 4 times.
To remove the remainder of the monocyclic N204 macrocycle more completely, 50 ml of hexane and 1 ml of CH30H were added to the residue; the solution was evaporated in vacuo (gentle heating) until turbidity appeared; the solution was decanted and the operation ~as repeated several times.
The red residue was tested by slab chromatography (Polygram Alox N/UV254 from Macherey-Nagel); migration in the medium CH2C12/CH30H 9/1 gave the following values:
(22)phen Rf = 0.4 - 0.8 Monocyclic N204 macrocycle Rf = 0.2 - 0.5 The residue was chromatographed on a column (20 cm, 0 15 cm) packed with neutral activated aluminum oxide 90 of 70-230 mesh (Merck), the eluent consisting of the following mixtures:
CH2C12/CH30H (5~), CHC13/C2H50H (5~), CH30H/hexane 9/1.
Yields from 12 to 35% according to the operating conditions.
This gave the sodium salt of (22)phen, of the formula [Na+C(22)phen-Br.H20], the ele~ental analysis of which was as follows:
found: C 53.00 H 6.21 N 9.44 calculated: C 53.16 H 6.18 N 9.55 B - Formation of the complex [Eu3+C(22)phen]
0.07 mol (19.4 mg) of anh~drous EuC13 was dissolved in 4 ml of dry CH3CN and the solution was heated under reflux for 1 hour 30 minutes. 35 mg of the previously obtained sodium salt of ~22)phen in 2.5 ml of CH3CN were added. The mixture was heated under reflux for 2 hours 30 minutes. After the mixture had been left to stand overnight at 4~C, the yellow pre-cipitate was filtered off.
The precipitate collected (11 mg) exhibits a * Trade Mark 133~2QO

strong fluorescence and this also applies when it is in solution in H20 and CH30H (UV 254 nm).
No change in the excitation and emission spectra was observed after three months in aqueous solution at a concentration below 10 4 mol/liter.
Example 2 A - Preparation of (22)phenanthrolinamide (hereafter called (22)phenamide) u ~N ~ ~~ =~
Cl C~= ~ \~ ~Q~
~o~, di-COCl-phen (22) (22)phenamide The solvent used in this synthesis ïs aceto-nitrile distilled over P205. The process was carried out in a dry glass apparatus.
305 mg of dry recrystallized di-COCl-phen (1 mmol) were dissolved in 50 ml of CH3CN; after one night, the solution was filtered and transferred to a dropping funnel; the volume was made up to 90 ml with CH3CN.
524 mg of (22) (2 mmol) were dried in vacuo (< 1 torr; overnight). The product was dissolved in 90 ml of CH3CN and transferred to a dropping funnel.
The two dropping funnels were fitted to a 2 to 3 liter round-bottomed flask containing 1 liter of CH3CN. The two reactants were added simultaneously over a period of 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes, with rapid stirring (magnetic). Stirring was continued for 30 minutes after the addition. The solvent was removed _ 30 _ 133~200 in vacuo at 50~C. The residue was dried for at least 1 hour at P ~ 1 torr. The residue was mixed for 30 minutes in 300 ml of CH2C12 and filtered off. The filtrate was evaporated to dryness. The residue was chromatographed on neutral activated Alox 90 (column 30 cm, 0 1.5 cm), the eluent being CH2C12 containing 170 of CH30H. The first product eluted was recovered.
310 mg of (22)phenamide were recovered with a yield of 63~. The product was recrystallized from a mixture of toluene/hexane 1/1.
Melting point: 300 - 302~C
IR amide band at 1630 cm 1 Mass spectrum: M+ at 494 for ~W = 494.55 Elemental analysis: C26H30~1~06 C H N
Calculated: 63.15 6.11 11.33 round: ~ 59.8 5.7 10.5 ~ 59.9 5.9 10.6 B - Formation of the complex [Eu C(22)phenamide]
4j mg (0.17 mmol) of anhydrous EuC13 were dissolved in 10 ml of dry CH3CN. A solution of 80 mg (0.16 mmol) of (22)phenamide in 2 ml of CH2C12 was heated under reflux for 3 hours, 50 ml of CH3CN were added and the mixture was heated to the boiling point of the CH3CN (CH2C12 is removed by eYaporation).
Then the solution of Eu was added.
The mixture was heated under reflux for 2 hours and then left to stand at room temperature. The ~hite p~ecipitate W8S recovered by filtration (50 mg). It exhibited a strong red fluorescence ( ~ excitation-254 nm) and the same applied in solution in H20, CH30H
and DMS0.
Elemental analysis for EuC(22)phenamide(0H)C12.3H20 X

C26H37~4010Cl2Eu ~l~' = 788.47 C H ~' Calculated: 39.61 4.73 7.11 Found: ~ 40.1 4.9 7.2 ~ 40.3 4.8 7.1 No changes in the excitation and emission spectra of this complex were observed after three months in aqueous solution at a concentration below 10 4 mol/liter.
ExamDle 3 - Pre?aration of (22)anthracenamide COCl I

IY.2 COCl ' 11 O=~C ~ . 11=o CH2 ~~~ CH2 ~, In this example, the method of high dilution is used.

- 0.564 g of the acid dichloride 1 (1.7 mmol) was dissolved in 70 ml of anhydrous CH2C12 and the solution was introduced into a 100 ml dropping funnel;
- 0.446 g of the macrocycle (22), i.e. 1.7 mmol, and 0.47 ml of triethylamine (2 x 1.7 mmol) were also dissolved in 70 ml of anhydrous CH2C12 and the solution was introduced into a 100 ml dropping funnel.
0.4 ml of toluene and 0.15 liter of anhydrous methylene chloride were introduced into a 3 liter three-necked flask. The two reactants prepared above in the dropping funnels were introduced simultaneously into the flask over a period of 5 hours (14 ml/hour).
The organic phase was collected, concentrated to a few milliliters and then transferred to a column of SiO2 under pressure (column diameter 3.5 cm; height 17 cm; eluent CH2C12/1% of methanol).
This gave a pale yellow, crystalline fluorescent product.
Yield: 45%
Thin layer chromatography (TLC): solvent CH2C12/2% of methanol; SiO2; Rf = 0.6 H NMR: solvent CDC13/CD2C12 5/5, at 200 MHz ppm 2.53 (m)~
2.93 (m) 3-18 (m)~, 24 H, HCH2 + OCH2 crown 3.42 (m) 4.02 (d)J
A AB 16 Hz 4H OCCH2N
~B = 5-03 7.6 (m) 4H' 8.43 (d) 2H ~ aromatic 8.82 (d) 2H, Microanalysis: C30H3606N2 Calculated: C 69.20 H 6.97 N 5.38 Found: C 69;07 H 7.00 N 5.22 33 ~ 1339200 ~lolecular weight 520.55 The acid dichloride 1 used as the starting material in this example can be obtained by the processes described by M.T~ iller et al. in R.~'. Amidon and P.O.
Tawney, J.A.C.S. 77, 2845 (1955) or by B.M. ~likhailov, Izvest. Akad. ~ank. SS. Osdel Khim. Nank. 1948, 420-6;
CA 42, 6350.
Example 4 - Preparation of (22)anthracene c ~ C~2 ~ C~2 o = C C=o CH2 CH

~ ~ O ~ \ ~ ~ ~ o ~ ~ I
~ /o~ o ~N ~o ~o~

380 mg of the diamide 3 (0.73 mmol) were partially dissolved in 20 ml of anhydrous THF contained in a round-bottomed flask.
The flask, fitted with a reflux condenser, was placed under an argon atmosphere and 8 ml of 1.1 M
B2H6 in anhydrous THF were added at room temperature.
The whole reaction mixture was kept under reflux overnight and the excess diborane was then destroyed at 0~C
with a few drops of distilled water.
The solvents were evaporated off and 40 ml of a 6 ~ solution of HCl were added to the residual white - 34 - 133~200 solid.
The solution was heated under reflux for 30 hours under an argon atmosphere and became dark green.
It was left to cool, the water was then evaporated off and the resulting solid was pumped dry with a vane pump for 1 hour and was then dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water; 50 ml of CH2C12 ~ere added, the two phases were shaken and the aqueous phase ~as then separated off and rendered basic at 0~C with an aqueous solution of LiOH to pH 13; a solid precipitated.
A further 50 ml of CH2C12 were added and the two phases were shaken and left to settle. The organic phase was recovered and dried over MgS04.
The crude product was transferred to a column of alumina and eluted with CH2C12/1% of methanol. A
pure crystalline product was recovered on a TLC plate.
Yield: 62 - 70~
TLC: A1203; eluent CH2C12/6~ of MeOH; Rf: 0.33 Melting point: > 260~C
13C NMR: solvent CDC13 ppm 25.2 (aromatic CH2) 54.3 56 3 ~ NCH2 macrocycle + branch 69.3 0 0 ~ OCH2 macrocycle 123.9 (1)' 125.5 (2) 129 9 (3) t 3~ lH NMR: solvent CDC13 ppm 2.39 (t) 8H NCH2 macrocycle 2.55 and 2.76 (0) - 2 x 4H OCH2 N ~ O

2.89 and 3.19 (m) - 2 x 4H OCH2 0 ~ 0 3.03 and 3.82 (t) - 2 x 4H -CH2-CH2 7.47 and 8.31 (AB) - 4H
) aromatic H
7.50 and 8.36 (AB) - 4H

~icroanalysis: C30H4004N2 (molecular weight 492.6) Calculated: C 73.13 H 8.18 N 5.6 Found: C 73.06 H 8.04 N 5.2 The complex [Eu3+C(22)anthracene] was prepared by following the procedure described in Example 1.
Example 5 - Preparation of the macropolycyclic compound of the formula (7) and the correspondin~ europium complex ~--N N

N
~ N N

A - Preparation of 6,6'-bis-bromomethyl-2,2'-bipyridine ~ ~ NBS

Br Br molecular ~eight 184molecular weight 342 A mixture of 6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine (2.76 g, 15 mmol) and N-bromosuccinimide (5.10 g, 28.6 mmol) in CC14 (150 ml) is heated under reflux for 30 minutes. Benzoyl peroxide (30 mg) was subsequently added to the mixture, this was heated under reflux again for 2 hours and the succinimide was then filtered off. Ihe solution was cooled to 0~C and the solid was filtered off and washed with methanol to gi~e the bis-dibromide in the form of a white crystalline solid (1.65 g).
Yield 32%; melting point 180-181~C.
The CC14 solution was concentrated and chromato-graphed on a column (silica gel) by elution with a mixture of methylene chloride/methanol 98/1 to give:
- 6,6'-bis-dibromomethyl-2,2'-bipyridine 0.9 g, 12%
- 6,6'-bis-bromomethyl-2,2'-bipyridine 1.38 g, 27%
- 6-meth~1-6'-bromomethyl-2,2'-bipyridine 0.55 g, 14%
B - Preparation of the macropolycyclic compound A mixture of the bis-bipyridine macrocycle of the formula (5) (0.15 g, 0.38 mmol) (described in J. Org.
Chem. 1983, 48, 4848) and Na2C03 (0.4 g) in acetonitrile (200 ml) was heated to the reflux temperature and a solution of 6,6'-bis-bromomethyl-2,2'-bipyridine (0.12 g, 0.38 mmol) was then added over a period of 3 hours.
The mixture was subsequently heated under reflux for 20 hours. The Na2C03 was filtered off and the filtrate was evaporated. The residue was filtered on a short column of alumina by elution with CH2C12/MeOH 98/2 to give the sodium salt of the tris-bipyridine macro-bicyclic compound in the form of a white solid (0.16 g :
73%); melting point above 270~C).
Microanalysis : C36 H30 8' calculated : C 63.81 H 4.46 N 16.53 found : C 63.79 H 4.48 N 16.49 NMR H : solvent CDC13 3.85 (s, 6CH2) ;
7.33 (dd, J=7,2 ; 1,2; 6H ; H-C(5); H-Ct5')) 7.82 (t, J=7.2; 6H ; H-C(4) ; H-C(4')) 7.90 (dd ; J=7.2; 1.2; 6B; H-C(3); H-C(3')) A mixture of silver nitrate AgN03(15 mg, 0.08 mmol ) and of the sodium salt obtained above (20 mg, 0.03 mmol ) was heated with 5 ml of CH30H for 30 minutes.
The methanol was evaporated and the resulting complex was purified over a column of silica gel with CH2C12/CH30H
as eluent (96/4).
The resulting silver complex (20 mg) was dissolved in a water-methanol mixture (1:1 - 5 ml) and treated with a stream of H2S for 15 minutes. The formed precipitate was centrifuged and the solution neutralized with N(CH3)40H O.lN and extracted with methylene chloride (3.5 ml). The solution was drled on MgS04 and evaporated;
the resulting solid waS filtered on silica gel CH2C12:
CH30H (96:4) to give the free complex (13 mg; 86~) with the following characteristics :
NMR H : solvent CDC13 3.82 (s, 12H, CH2) 7.44 7.78 ABX System J = 8; 7.5 and 0.9 Rz 7.83 L

1339~00 Microanalysis : 36 30 8 (S74.7) Found : 75.37 H 4.98 N 19.41 calculated : C 75.24 H 5.26 N 19.50 The macropolycyclic compound obtained was used to prepare the complex ~u C(tris-bipyridine macropolycycle)~ by following the procedure described in Example 1.
Example 6 - Preparation of the bis-bipyridinephen-anthroline macropolycyclic compound of the formula (9) and the corresponding europium complex

5 ~ ~ ~ CN~CNreflux Br r ~ Na2C03 14 10 2 2 \ ~ \ ~ /

?
0.158 mmol of the bis-pyridine macrocycle (5) was weighed into a 500 ml two-necked round-bottomed flask. 0.75 mmol of Na2C03 (approx. 5-fold excess) and 105 ml of freshly distilled CH3CN were added. The mlxture was heated under reflux for 30 minutes, with magnetlc stirring.
An equimolecular dibromophenanthrollne solution in 100 ml of acetonitrile was then added dropwise.
- Refluxing and magnetic stirrlng we~e conti-nued throughout the rather slow addition t2 hours 10 minutes)-~39~ 1339200 The mixture was then heated for a further 18 hours under the same conditions. The solution obtained was evaporated to dryness. The crude product, dissolved in CH2C12, was washed with water. (Thin layer chromato-graphy on alumina : eluent CH2C12/MeOH 90/10.) This crude product was purified on a column of standardized alumina (activity II-III), the eluent being CH2C12/MeOH 98/2.
MiCrOana1YSiS C38 ~30 8 ~ 2 calculated : C 63.42 H 4.45 N 15.57 found : C 62.77 H 4.46 N 15.31 RMN H solvent - CDC13 3.91 ( S, 8H, CH2 - bPY) 4.07 (S, 4H, CH2-Phen~
7.36 (dd, J=7.2; 1,3; 4H; H-C(5) ; H - C(5') of the bipyridine) 7.64 (d, J = 8.2; 2H; H-C(3), H-C(8) of phenanthroline, 7.78 (S, 2H, H-C(5), H-C(6) of phenanthroline 7. 83 (t, J=7.2; 4H; H-C(4); H-C(4') of bipyridine 7.91 (dd, J=7.2; 1,3; 4H; ~-C(3); R-C(3') of ~i'pyridine .27 (d, J=8.2 ; 24 ; H-C (4);
4-C (7) of phenanthroline.
The macropolycyclic compound thus obtained was used to prepare the complex ~Eu C(bis-bipyridinephen-25 anthroline macropolycycle)~ by following the procedure described in Example 1.
The excitation and emission wavelengths characteristic of this complex are shown in the Table below.
30 EXamP1e 7 The macropolycycllc complexes below were obtained by following the procedure of Example 1 using the macropolycyclic compounds (22) pyridinamide and (2228) res-pectively : - -LEU C (22)PYridinamid ~
rTb C ~222B)7 Example 8 - Preparation of the (22)bisisoquinoline macro-polycyclic compound of the formula tl2) and of the corresponding europium complex.
s ~ ~J ~ 3 Br Br 20 l4 2 2 macrocycle N204 ~ 10 11 >.~
- ~ N N ~

~ Na ~ Br /~\
\~~\ /~~/ ' a~ preparation of l,l'-bis(bromomethyl)-3,3' biisoquino-line of the formula lO
This compound was prepared from l-methyl-3-hydroxyisoquinoline of formula " ~~ ~ OH
~1 The l-methyl-3-hydroxyisoquinoline was prepared by cyclization of N-(-)-phenyl ethyl-diethoxyacetamide. 72 g of this starting compound, prepared according to the method of preparation described by H. FUKUMI et al in "HETEROCYC$ES" 9(9) 1197 (1978) and purified by distil-lation under reduced pressure (140~C- 0.1 mmHg), were poured dropwise under stirring for one hour into 400 ml of concentrated H2S04 cooled down to 10~C. The reaction mixture was cooled during the addition,so that its temperature does not exceed 10~C. The reaction mixture was then stirred for ten hours at room temperature, then poured into 600g of ice. After filtration, the clear solution was neutralized with 20% aqueous medium under efficient cooling. The yellow precipitate was filtered off, washed with water and dried in vacuo. 41.5g of l-methyl-3-hydroxyisoquinoline were obtained (yield 90%).
Said compound was then tosylated. A suspension of 41.5g of l-methyl-3-hydroxyisoquinoline was then stirred with pyridine (250 ml) under cooling in an ice-water bath.
P-toluenesulfonyl chloride (70g, 1.5 equivalent) was then gradu~ly added over a period of 30 minutes. The yellow starting compound has then disappeared. The reaction was monitored by TLC. As soon as the reaction was complete, water (50 ml) was added, and the stirring was continued for 1 hour. It was then diluted with 700 ml of water and neutralized with solid Na2C03. The resulting precipitate was filtered off, carefully washed with water and dried.
70.5g of a non-hydroscopic product, stable in air was obtained (yield : 86%).
The resulting l-methyl-3-p-toluenesulfonyl-oxyisoquinoline was then coupled according to the method of preparation described by M. Tiecco et al in SYNTHESIS
736, 1984.
- In a three-necked flask equipped with a magnetic stirrer, flushed with argon, 1 1 of dimethyl-formamide (DM~), 236 3 g of triphenylphosphine and 53.5 g of NiC12, 6H20 were introduced, forming a deep blue-gree - 42 - 133~200 solution. When the temperature of the oil bath reached 50~C, 14.64 g of zinc powder were added and the colour of the solution changed to a brown-red colo~r. After one hour, the solution of the starting product (70.5 g in 200 ml of DMF), namely the l-methyl-3-p-toluenesulfonyl-oxyisoquinoline, was quickly added dropwise with stirring, under heating at 50~C, said temperature was maintained for additional 6 hours. After cooling down to room temper-ature, the reaction mixture was poured into 4 1 of diluted ammonia (1.51 of H20 and 500 ml of 20% N~3).A
vigOurous air stream was bubbled through the suspensionto oxidize the Ni(Ph3P)4 (Ph=phenyl). The end of oxydation was indicated by the disappearance of the brown colour.
The suspension was filtered off, washed with water and placed in 400 ml of 20% HCl to change the biisoquinoline into its water-insoluble hydrochloride. The suspension was then shaked with two portions of 400 ml of ethyl ether to remove the triphenylphosphine and the acid layer was filtered off, washed with 100 mlof water and acetone to remove traces of Ph3P and Ph3P0. The hydrochloride was placed in a round-bottomed flask with 200 ml of 20% ammonia and stirred overnight to release the base.
The white product thus obtained (26 g), namely the 1,1-dimethyl-3,3'-biisoquinoline was filtered off, carefully washed with water and dried in vacuo (yield : 81~1. This product was poorly sol~ble in most of the solvents and sparingly soluble in CH C13 and THF. The 1,1-dimethyl-3,3'-biisoquinoline thus obtained was then brominated to form the l,l'-bis (bromomethyl)-3,3'-biisoqulnoline.
1.20 g of 1,1'-dimethyl-3,3'-bllsoquinoline was dissolved in 500 ~1 of CC14 under reflux and N-bromo-succinimide (2.26 g, 3 equivalents) was added. After ten minutes, 10 g of 2,2'-azobis (2-methylpropionitrile) were added. The reaction was monitored by thin layer chromato-graphy. Two other parts of initiator (10 mg each) were - 43 _ 133~2~0 added over a period of one hour. After three hours, the solution was evaporated to dryness and the residue was treated with 150 ml of methanol, stirred for 30 minutes and filteredoff. The resulting solid was washed with 100 ml of methanol. The filtration cake was dried in vacuo, dissolved in boiling toluene (100 ml) and quickly filtered.
The product precipitated during the night in the refri-gerator (1.28g-yield:68%).
b) Preparation of the macropolycyclic compound of the formula 12 To a mixture under stirring of 1.416g of N204 macrocycle, and 3.39 g of Na2C03 in 150 ml of CH3CN, a suspension of l,l'-bis (bromomethyl)-3,3'-biisoquino-line in CH3CN (100 ml) was added over a period of 3 hours.
Stirring was continued for 20 hours. After filtration and washing with C~3CN and evaporation, a crude product was obtained and chromatographed twice, first over alumina (eluents : 3~ CH30H in CHC13 then 10% CH30H in CHC13 V/V) then over silica gel (eluent 10% of CH30H in CHC13). The yield after two purifications was of 0.289 g, namely 14~.
Another purification was carrled out by cristallizationin a mixture ethanol-ether by vapour diffusion.
c) Preparation of the complex CEU Ct22)biisoquinoline7 24.5 mg (1 equivalent) of anhydrous europium nitrate were dissolved in 0.5 ml of anhydrous CH3CN. The sodium complex of (22) biisoquinoline (37.0 mg) in 0.3 ml of CH3CN was added and the resulting mixture was treated by following the method disclosed in example 2b. The pale yellow precipitate thus obtained was diluted in 3ml of acetonitrile and heated for 2 hours. The solution was allowed to stand at room temperature for several days.
A yellow crystallized product of the formula 12 was obtained.

133~200 Example 9 : Preparation of the (22) diphenylblpyridine macropolycyclic compound of the formula 18 ~ t ~o~3 Br 16 Br ~0) N N

~ ~ Na a) Preparation of 6,6'-bis (bromomethyl)-4,4'-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine (16) This compound was prepared from the 4,4-diphenyl 2,2'-bipyridine available on the market, according to the following method.

6,6'-dimethyl-4,4'-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine To a suspension under stirring of 4,4'-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine (4 g, 13 mmol) in-anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (TRF), cooled with an ice-bath, was added - 20 dropwise 1,5M methyllithium (3 equivalents) under nitro-gen atmosphere. After this addition, the solution was stirred for additional 30 minutes under the same conditions.
The dark red mixture thus obtained was then heated and stirred at 40~C for 3 hours under nitrogen.
An excess of water was slowly added at 0~C under nitrogen. The organic phase was separated and the aqueous phase was extracted three times with dichloro-methane. Manganese dioxide was then added t20 to 40 timesthe weight of the starting compound) to the orange organic solution. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 to 50 minutes. The reaction was followed by thin layer chromatography (A1203- eluent:toluene).
Magnesium sulfate was then added to the reaction medium, which was stirred for 30 additional minutes. The filtrate was then filtered off and evaporated. The residue was chromatographed over alumina (eluent : toluene/hexane 1:1) and two products were obtained :
the 6,6'-dimethyl-4,4'-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine (0.85 g;l9~) the 6-monomethyl-4,4'-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine(0.45 g:10.8~) 6,6'-dimethyl-4,4'-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine-N,N'-dioxide In a 250 ml flask containing an ice-cooled stirred solution of the above compound (0.28~, 0.83 mmol) in chloroform (60 ml), it was gradually added a solution of m-chloroperbenzoic acid (0.57 g 3.3 mmol) in chloro-form (60 ml). Stirring was continued for 3 hours, during which the mixture was left to return to room temperature.
The reaction mixture was treated with an aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate (3.3 mmol) stirred for 30 minutes.
The organic phase was separated and evaporated in vacuo. The residue was re-dissolved in di-chloromethane (CH2C12) and passed over a column of basic alumina. A second chromatography was carried out on standard alumina to completely purify the product (0.21 g;
68~). -6,6'-bis(acetoxymethyl)-4,4-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine 0.21 g (0.57 mmol) of the above compound was heated for one hour under reflux in acetic anhydride (1.3 ml). The solution was concentrated in vacuo and tolu-133~200 ene was added until the formation of azeotrope of the mixture.
The resulting solid was re-dissolved in dichloromethane, washed witha 10~ aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate, dried and the solvent was evaporated.
The crude product was passed over a column of silica gel and eluted with dichloromethane to give 0.126 g (yield :
49~) of the desired compound.
6,6'-bis(bromomethyl)-4,4l-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine(16) A solution under stirring of the above compound (0.053 g; 0.117 mmol) and of 47% hydrobromic acid (0.9 ml) was heated for 4 hours at 130~C.
The solution was then cooled in a methanol/ice-bath . 15 ml of water, 40 ml of chloroform, then gradually a saturated solution of sodium carbonate, were added thereto, until the pH of the solution became alkaline.
The organic phase was separated and the aqueous phase was extracted with chloroform (2 x 10 ml).
All the organic fractions were combined and evaporated.
The residue was chromatographed over an alumina column, with the chloroform as eluent. 40 mg (yield:69~) of the dibromide of the formula 16 were obtained.
b) Preparation of salt ~Na C(22) diphenyl-bipyridine Br7 of the formula 18 The method described in example 5b was followed by using :
21.2 mg (0.081 mmol) of N204 macrocycle of the formula 17 43 mg (0.40 mmol) of sodium carbonate 40 mg (0.081 mmol) of dibromide of the formula 16 29.8 mg (yield:53~) of the complex of the formula 18 were obtained.

Example 10. Preparation of the diphenylbipyridine-bisbi-pyridine macropolycyclic complex of the formula 19 ~ ~

N Na Br The method of the above example was repea-ted by using the bis-pyridine macrocycle of the formula (5) (example 5) instead of the N204 macrocycle of the formula 17~ There were used;
24.7 mg (0.063 mmol) of 5 bis-pyridine macrocycle 31.1 mg (0.063 mmol) of dibromide of the formula 16 o.l mg (0.94 mmol) of sodium carbonate The reaction lasted for 23 hours and the compound of the formula 19 was obtained with a yield of 20%.

Example 11 : Preparation of the biisoquinoline bis-bipy-ridine macropolycyclic compound of the formula 20 < ~ 20 5 N Na Br The method of the example 8 was repeated by using the bis-bipyridine macrocycle of the formula 5 instead of the N204 macrocycle of the formula 11. Equi-molecular quantities of the compound of the formula S
and of dibromide of the formula 10, were used, and the compound of the formula 20 was obtained (31.7 g ;
yield : 20%) Example 12 : Preparation of the (22) bipyridine macropoly-cyclic compound Following the method of example S and usingthe N204 macrocycle of the formula 11 instead of bis-bipyridine of the formula 5 and the macropolycyclic compound of the formula 21 was obtained with a yield of 12~.

- 49 _ N N ~

\ Na ~ Br~
/1 \\
G~~,~~

Example 12 Also using the method of operation of Example 1 with the macropolycyclic compounds obtained according to examples 9 to 11, the following macrocyclic complexes were respectively obtained :
/Eu C(22) bipyridine~
~Eu C (bpy;bpy.biisoq.)7 ~Eu C (22) diph.bpy~
rTb t22) bipyridine~
Likewise, by operating according to the method of example 5, the complex fEu C(macropoly-cycle tris-phenanthroline)~ was prepared by using the 6,6'-bis-bromomethyl-phenanthroline and the diamine bis (phenanthrolinediyl) macrocycle. The corresponding macropolycyclic compound had the following characteristics :
y 42 38 8' ' 2 ( ~ ) calculated : C 65.71 H 4.17 N 14.6 found : C 65.23 H 4.26 N 13.1 RMN lH: solvent CDC13 4.03 4.45 (very broad; AB, 12H, CH2)

7.66 (d, J=8.1; 6~; H-C(3) ; H-C(8)) 7.78 (s, 6H, H-C(5); H-C(6))

8.27 (d, J=8.1, 6H; H-C(4); H-C(7)) .

~ 50 - 1339200 fluorescent characteristics of the cryptates of the invention a) excitation peaks for a given emission wavelength For each complex was determined, for a given emission wavelength, characteristic of the rare earth ion of the complex, the excitation wavelengths ;
the recorded excitation peaks do not correspond to those of the rare earth ion alone. In addition, it has been noted that by exciting the complex at the wavelength corresponding to the excitation peak determined above, the maximum of fluorescence was characteristic of the rare earth ion.
The above determinations were made with a spectrometer PERKIN-ELMER LS 5 in the operating conditions indicated in table I hereunder.
b) Measurement of the life-time~ of europium and terbium cryptates.
On a spectrometer LS5, the emiss$on spec-trum of the peak situated between 610 and 620 nm for 20 europium, and between 540 and 550 for terbium, was recorded, the solution being excited in one of the adsorption peaks.It was operated in phosphorescence method, the value of the slit being fixed to 1 ms=tg.
Recordings were made for several values of 25 td (time limit) namely 0.1 ; 0.2; 0.3 ; 0.4 and 0.5ms.
The intensity of the peak It was measured and ~was determined by the formula :
t o 0.434t 30 ~; e log I -log I
by tracing the curve log It I may be determined and qZ may be calcula-ted as a function of td. The obtained results are indicated in table II hereunder.

* Trade mark T.~BLE I
EXCITATION AND EMISSION CHARACTERISTJCS OF THE COMPLEXES 0~ TIIE IN~'ENTION
(Perkin-Elmer LS 5) . . . EXCITATION EMISSION
Complex Concentratlon Wldth of Expallslon (solvent) the fnc~or slits ~iven ~ rccorded 1 ~iven ~ fluorescence emission excitation exci~ation maximum obser~cd at:

[Eu3+C(22)phen] 3.7-10 6 mol/l2.5/20 nm 10 61S nm ~290 nm (peak) 290 nm {615 nm (peak) (water) 312 nm 593 nm (shoulder) (second 330 nm peak) ~ (shoulder) [Eu3+C(22)phenamide] 2.5-10 4 mol/l2.5/10 nm ~ 613 nm 290 nm (peak) 290 nm 613 nm (water) 323 nm (peak) 333 nm (shoulder) 590 nm 345 nm (shoulder) [Eu3+C(tris-bi- 7-10 mol/l 2.5/10 nm 15 6I7nm maximum at 300 nmmaximum at pyridine macro- (0.1 M phos- 300 nm 6I7l~m cycle)] phate buffer, pH 7.5) .
[Eu3+C(phenanthroline_ 2.8-10 5 mol/l 2.5/10 nm 2 ~80 nm 590 nm ~~~
bis-bipyridine)] (water) - C~
613 nm C~
o E E E E E E E E
o ~- J ~
n ~ .0 _J
Z
E E E E
Ll a.) ~ O ~ ~ ~
_~ 01 G
E-~ . .'' X X
, _ c~ ~ Y
O ~ 4 X Z ~ a, C C ~ C
o ~ ~ ~ o ~ ~ o u~
o . c~ ~
- E E c -- L "~ c u o ~ u cn , CU
O
~ L I ~ O
O
.
CU ~L ~
C ~ cE C ~ , C
~r S Cl JJ-- ~ ~ ~
J J~ .C r~ _ _ _ L 3 ~ ~
a z~
o ~ u ~) o C E _ ,~
O O -- , O -- O ~ ~ ~
cn _ --~0 --~ ~ ~ 3 t~ O
.

.1 1~ I
~, u ~ C'J ~ O
C ~,~ u ~
~U ~ ~ . _ ~ I
D
E -- ~ C'J, c~+ ~ cu +C~ 'D ~ C
C
C~

133~200 .. _ _ ~, . .
a5 ' 5 ' - ~ a c. e e E C C E E
o _ J O t~ ~ O ~ ~5 ~D

O
c e EC cE e .~ C~ .,1 r~ o o o o H ~--1 X ~ ~ ~5 tJ~ C~
-E~ I C
-- ~-1 rc _ 5 , C
,C C~
'C5 X ~ '5'3 5~ e 5~
o t~ ~ o ~
_ O C ~ ~ ~ -- ~ ~ I~ ~ O --X ~
,~ ~ C~
, ~r ~ _ ., _ ~, E E E E
U ~7 ~ C C
E ~cl ~ 'C~
H -- ~1~ ~ ~1 ~ ~) ~1 ~ ~ ._ m ~ 0 a5 O O ~) u~ ,c5 rc5 C~ C~
, S c~ ~ c C a c C 'C5 'C5 r ~ S ~ ~ O O O ~) -J
~C5 ~ .~ ~ u~ ~ _ _ .~ u~ ~ ~ _ ~ -C~ ~5 c~5 ~ ~'I ~ "
.

_ h E
C 3 o _ E ~

E ~ ~ ~ S 5 S S
~ ~ i ~ O O O -S -C~ C~
~ ~~ ~ e ., 6 E
~ C . ~, ~5 ~~~ C ; .
X tl5 t~
~ ~ ~'5 ~ 5r~1 n~~5 E ~ ~ ~

~;5 ,~~D C S

~ 54 ~ 1~3 9 2 ~ O

~ . . . . .
~ OOOOO0, 0 0 O

r ~ ~ ~A
~O u~
O O O
o ~ ~ O
~ O O . O O

u~ . r _ ~ 0 _ ~
O O O ~ O O ~ O O~rl O
~A O A ~ O rA S ~ O
-~d .

E~ r O O O U~ O O ~¦ . 0 E 0 0 ~ o ~_1 r .~) C ~ ~ OA
4 ~ ~A~~ _ , I. 5A A
E ~ ~ T C ~r U C ~ OA ~,~ C ~A
1_¦ 5A OA _ OA5~ OA
~, ~ 5~ r ~ D

3 , ,_ , D

Claims (49)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In a process for detection or determination of an analyte in a medium which analyte is traced by associating said analyte or a receptor for said analyte with a fluorescent label comprising reacting said label with said analyte or said receptor for said analyte to form a labelled binding pair and detecting said analyte by measuring said label, wherein the improvement comprises said label being a macropolycyclic rare earth complex consisting of at least one rare earth salt complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the general formula:

I, in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group, or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and the divalent radicals A, B and C independently of one another are hydrocarbon chains, said hydrocarbon chains optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and said hydrocarbon chains optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and said hydrocarbon chains optionally interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B, and C contains a heterocycle, a heteromacrocycle, or a polycyclic aromatic unit, and further provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B
or C also contains at least one divalent energy donor radical that constitutes at least part of said chain radical, said energy-donor radical possessing a greater triplet energy that the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion.

2. In a process for detection or determination of an analyte in a medium which analyte is traced by associating said analyte or a receptor for said analyte with a fluorescent label comprising reacting said label with said analyte or said receptor for said analyte to form a selectively labeled binding pair and detecting said analyte by measuring said label, wherein the improvement comprises said label being a macropolycyclic rare earth complex consisting of-at least one rare earth salt selectively complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the general formula:

I, in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is a trivalent atom or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is a tetravalent atom; and the divalent radicals A, B and C independently of one another are selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbon chains, which hydrocarbon chains with one or more heteroatoms and interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, wherein at least one of the radicals A, B and C includes or consists essentially of a radical selected from the groups consisting of:

(1);

(2);

(3);

(4);

(5); and (6) .

3. A process of claim 2 in which at least one of the radicals A, B, and C includes or consists essentially of radical 1, 2 or 5.

4. A process of claim 3, wherein Z is nitrogen and A and B are polyethoxylated chains.

5. A process of claim 2 in which at least one of the radicals A, B, and C includes or consists essentially of radical 3, 4 or 6.

6. A process of claim 5, wherein Z is nitrogen and A and R are polyethoxylated chains.

7. A process of claims 2 wherein Z in nitrogen and A and B are polyethoxylated chains.

8. A process of claim 2 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a tris-bipyridine macropolycycle of the formula:

or a phenanthroline-bis-bipyridine macropolycycle of the formula

9. A process of claim 2 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a tris-phenanthroline macropolycycle.

10. A process of claim 2 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a bis-bipyridine bi-isoquinoline macropolycycle of the formula or a bis-bipyridine diphenylbipyridine macropolycycle of the formula .

11. A process of claim 2 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a compound of the formula in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group, or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and A is a divalent hydrocarbon chain that contains an energy-donor radical that constitutes at least part of said chain, wherein said energy-donor radical is anthracene, anthracenamide, naphthalene, biphenyl, terphenyl, azobenzene, azopyridine, pyridine, bipyridine, bisisoquinoline, diphenylbipyridine or a compound of the formula or where X1 and X2, which can be identical or different, denote oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or a group of the formula , ;

; or where X is oxygen or tuo hydrogen atoms.

12. The process of claim 2 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a compound of the formula in which A is selected from the group consisting of ;

; ;

; ; and .

13. The process of claim 1 or 2 wherein said rare earth complex is substituted on one or more atoms with a bonding arm selected from the group consisting of alkylamino, arylamino, isothiocyano, cyano, isocyano, thiocyano, carboxyl, hydroxyl, mercapto, phenol, imidazole, aldehyde, epoxide, thionyl halide, sulfonyl halide, nitrobenzoyl halide, carbonyl halide, triazo, succinimide, anhydride, halogenoacetate, hydrazino, and dihalogenotriazinyl radicals.

14. A macropolycyclic rare earth complex suitable as a fluorescent tracer consisting of at least one rare earth salt complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the formula:

in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivlent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and the divalent radicals A, B and C independently of one another are hydrocarbon chains which optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and are optionally interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B and C contains a heterocycle, a heteromacrocycle, or a polycyclic aromatic unit, and further provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B, and C contains at least one divalent energy-donor radical that constitutes at least part of said chain radical, said energy-donor radical possessing a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion.

15. A complex of claim 14 wherein the hydrocarbon chains are ethoxylated or polythoxylated chains.

16. A macropolycyclic complex of claims 14 or 15 wherein the rare earth ion is selected from the group consisting of europium, terbium, samarium, and dysprosium.

17. A macropolycyclic complex of claim 16 wherein the triplet energy of said energy-donor radical undergoes radiant deactivation at a phosphorescence wavelength below 580 nm.

18. A macropolycyclic complex of claim 14 or 15 wherein the triplet energy of said energy-donor radial undergoes radiant deactivation at a phosphorescence wavelength below 580 nm.

19. A macropolycyclic complex of claim 14 which consists of a terbium or europium ion complexed by a macrocyclic compound selected from the group consisting of (22)phenanthroline; (22)phenanthrolinamide, (22)anthracene; (22)anthracenamide;
(22)bisisoquinoline; (22)diphenylbipyridine; a tris-bipyridine macropolycycle; and a phenanthroline-bisbipyridine macropolycycle.

20. A macropolycyclic complex of claim 14 wherein at least one of the chain radicals A, B, and C contains a heterocycle or a heteromacrocycle.

21. A macropolycyclic complex of claim 14 wherein the energy-donor radical is phenanthroline, azopyridine, pyridine, bipyndine, bisisoquinoline, diphenylbipyridine or a radical of the formula or where X1 is oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur, and X2 is a group of the formula ; ; or .

22. The macropolycyclic rare earth complex of claim 14 wherein said divalent energy-donor radical is selected from the group consisting of ;

;

;

;

; and and .

23. The macropolycyclic rare earth complex of claim 14 wherein said macropolycyclic compounds is a tris-bipyridine macropolycycle of the formula or a phenanthroline-bis-bispyridine macropolycycle of the formula .

24. The macropolycyclic rare earth complex of claim 14 wherein said macropolycyclic compound is a tris-phenanthroline macropolycycle.

25. The macropolycyclic rare earth complex of claim 14 wherein said macropolycyclic compound is a bis-bipyridine biisoquinoline macropolycycle of the formula or a bis-bipyridine diphenylbipyridine macropolycycle of the formula .

26. A macropolycyclic rare earth complex consisting of at least one rare earth salt complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the formula in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group, or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and A is a divalent hydrocarbon chain that contains an energy-donor radical that constitutes at least part of said chain, wherein said energy-donor radical is anthracene, anthracenamide, naphthalene, biphenyl, terphenyl, azobenzene, azopyridine, pyridine, bipyridine, bisisoquinoline, diphenylbipyridine or a compound of the formula or where X1 and X2 which can be identical or different, denote oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or a group of the formula , where X is oxygen or two hydrogen atoms.

27. A biological complex which consists of a biologically active molecule, which is associated by coupling or adsorption with a macropolycyclic rare earth complex, said macropolycyclic rare earth complex consisting of at least one rare earth salt complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the general formula:

I, in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and the divalent radicals A, B and C independently of one another are hydrocarbon chains, said hydrocarbon chains optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and said hydrocarbon chains optionally interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B and C contains a heterocycle, a heteromacrocycle, or a polycyclic aromatic unit, and further provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B and C also contains at least one divalent energy-donor radical that constitutes at least part of said chain radical, said energy-donor radical possessing a greater triplet energy that the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion.

28. A biological complex of claim 27 wherein the hydrocarbon chains of the macropolycyclic compound are ethoxylated or polyethoxylated chains.

29. A biological complex of claim 27 wherein the rare earth ion is selected from the group consisting of europium, terbium, samarium, and dysprosium.

72 A biological complex of claim 27 wherein triplet energy of said energy-donor radical undergoes radiant deactivation at a phosphorescence wavelength below 580 nm.

31. A biological complex of claim 27 wherein the rare earth ion is terbium or europium and the macropolycyclic compound is selected from the group consisting of (22)phenanthroline, (22) phenanthrolinamide, (22) anthracene, (22) anthraceramide, (22) bisisoquinoline, (22) diphenylbipyridine, the tris ipyridine macropolycycle, and the phenanthroline-bisbipyridine macropolycycle.

32. A biological complex of claim 27 wherein at least one of the chains A, B, and C of the macropolycyclic compound contains a hterocycle or a heteromacrocycle.

33. A biological complex of claim 27 wherein the energy-donor radical of the macropoycyclic compound is phenanthroline, azopyridine, pyridine, bipyridine, bisisoquinoline, diphenylbipyridine or a radical of the formula or where X1 is oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur, and X2 is a group of the formula:

, , or .

34. A biological complex which consists of an analyte or receptor thereof, which is associated by coupling or adsorption with a macropolycyclic rare earth complex consisting of at least one rare earth salt selectively complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the formula:

I, in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and the divalent radicals A, B and C independently of one another are hydrocarbon chains, said hydrocarbon chains optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and said hydrocarbon chains optionally interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B, and C contains a heterocycle, a heteromacrocycle, or a polycyclic aromatic unit, and further provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B or C also containing at least one divalent energy-donor radical, said energy-donor radical possessing a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion, with the proviso that when the rare earth salt is a europium or terbium salt, Z is nitrogen, A is -(CH2)2-O-C6H2Q-O-(CH2)2- where Q is H or NH2, and either B or C is the radical -(CH2)2-O-(CH2)2-, then the other of B and C may not be the radical -(CH2)2-O-(CH2)2-O-(CH2)2-.

35. A biological complex which consists of an analyte or a receptor thereof which is associated by coupling or adsorption with a macropolycyclic rare earth complex, said macropolycyclic rare earth complex consisting of at least one rare earth salt selectively complexed by a macropolycyclic compound of the general formula:

I, in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is a trivalent atom or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is a tetravalent atom; and the divalent radicals A, B and C independently of one another are selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbon chains, which hydrocarbon chains with one or more heteroatoms and interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, wherein at least one of the radicals A, B and C includes or consists essentially of a radical selected from the group consisting of:

III
;

(2) ;

(3) ;

(4) ;

(5) ; and (6) .

36. A biological complex of claim 35 in which at least one of the radicals A, B, and C includes or consists essentially of radical 1, 2 or 5.

37. A biological complex of claim 35 wherein Z is nitrogen and A and B are polyethoxylated chains.

38. A biological complex of claim 35 in which at least one of the radicals A, B, and C includes or consists essentially of radical 3, 4, or 6.

39. A biological complex of claim 38 wherein Z is nitrogen and A and B are polyethoxylated chains.

40. A biological complex of claim 35 wherein Z is nitrogen and A and B are polyethoxylated chains.

41. A biological complex of claim 35 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a tris-bipyridine macropolycycle of the formula:

(IMG) or a phenanthroline-bis-bipyridine macropolycycle of the formula .

42. A biological complex of claim 35 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a tris-phenanthroline macropolycycle.

43. A biological complex of claim 35 wherein the macropolycyclic compound is a bis-bipyridine bi-isoquinoline macropolycycle of the formula or a bis-bipyridine diphenylbipyridine macropolycycle of the formula .

44. A biological complex of claim 27 comprising a compound of the formula in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, a hydroxyl group, an amino group, or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and A is divalent hydrocarbon chain that contains an energy-donor radical that constitutes at least part of said chain, wherein said energy-donor radical is anthracene, anthracenamide, naphthalene, biphenyl, terphenyl, azobenzene, azopyridine, pyridine, bipyridine, bisisoquinoline, diphenylbipyridine, or a compound of the formula or where X1 and X2, which can be identical or different, denote oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or a group of the formula wherein X is oxygen or two hydrogen atoms.

45. A biological complex of claim 35 in which the macropolycyclic compound is a compound formula in which A is selected from the group consisting of

46. A biological complex of claim 27 wherein the biologically active molecule is selected from the group consisting of antigens, antibodies, monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments and antibody-antibody fragment combinations, drugs, receptors, hormones, hormone receptors, bacteria, steroids, amino acids, peptides, viruses, vitamins, nucleotides, polynucleotides, enzymes, enzyme substrates, lectins, nucleic acids, DNA, and RNA.

47. A biological complex of claim 34 wherein the biologically active molecule is selected from the group consisting of antigens, antibodies, monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments and antibody-antibody fragment combinations, drugs, receptors, hormones, hormone receptors, bacteria, steroids, amino acids, peptides, viruses, vitamins, nucleotides, polynucleotides, enzymes, enzyme substrates, lectins, nucleic acids, DNA, and RNA.

48. A process for enhancing the fluorescence of a rare earth ion consisting of (a) complexing said ion with a macropolycyclic compound of the general formula:

in which Z is a trivalent or tetravalent atom; R is nothing when Z is trivalent or represents hydrogen, an hydroxyl group, an amino group or a hydrocarbon radical when Z is tetravalent; and the divalent radicals A, B and C independently of one another are hydrocarbon chains which optionally contain one or more heteroatoms and are optionally interrupted by a heteromacrocycle, provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B and C contains a heterocycle, a heteromacrocycle, or an aromatic unit, and further provided that at least one of the chain radicals A, B and C contains at least one divalent energy-donor radical that constitutes at least part of said chain radical, said energy-donor radical possessing a greater triplet energy than the emission level of the complexed rare earth ion;
and (b) exciting the complex so formed at the absorption wavelength of said energy-donor radical which possesses said triplet energy.

49. A process of claim 48 wherein at least one of the chain radicals A, B and C contains a heterocycle or a heteromacrocycle.