Thermodynamic remarks on chelating ligands for aluminium related diseases

Attention is devoted to the role of chelating agents in the treatment of aluminium related diseases. In fact, in spite of the actions that have drastically reduced the occurrence of dialysis diseases, they so far constitute a cause of great medical concern. Being aluminium chelators strictly related to iron chelators, a comparison is made of the complex formation properties of these two hard metal ions towards ligands characterized by charged oxygen donor groups. Empirical correlations between aluminium(III) and iron(III) complex formation constants, and their behavior are discussed in terms of structural and thermodynamic stabilities. Insertion of proper substituents to enhance the chelator binding capacity is debated on the bases of substituent effects on protonation and complex formation constants.