Professor Davison's research is in the area of inorganic chemistry. The majority of the work in progress involves a systematic exploration of the chemistry of the man-made element technetium. This program is broad based and includes all aspects of transition metal chemistry, synthesis, ligand design, physical characterization, etc.

During the last decade the metastable gamma-ray emitting isotope of technetium has been used for diagnostic-organ imaging in nuclear medicine (approximately 7+ million technetium scans annually in the USA).

It is expected that as the chemistry of technetium emerges it will be possible to develop rational syntheses of new technetium radiopharmaceutical agents. The evaluation of potential agents and the biological distribution of new technetium complexes are performed in collaboration with Professor Alun G. Jones in the Harvard Medical School Department of Radiology. One member of a class of heart-imaging agents discovered in 1982 received FDA approval in 1990 and is being marketed by The DuPont-Merck Pharmaceutical Company under the trade name Cardiolite™.

de Vries, N., Costello, C.E., Jones, A.G., Davison, A. "Technetium Nitrido Complexes with Amine and Thiolate Ligands: X-Ray Structural Characterization of TcN(SC6HMe4)(NHC (NMe2)2)2, a Complex with Coordinatively Bound 1,1,2,2-Tetramethylguanidine", Inorg. Chem., 1990, 29, 1348.

Delmon-Moingeon, L.I., Piwnica-Worms, D., Van den Abbeele, A.D., Holman, B.L., Davison, A., Jones, A.G. "Uptake of the Cation Hexakis(2-Methoxyisobutylisonitrile)-Technetium-99m by Human Carcinoma Cell Lines In Vitro", Cancer Res., 1990, 50, 2198.

Nicholson, T., Davison, A., Jones, A.G., "The Characterization of TechnetiumOrganohydrazide Chelate Complexes. The Synthesis of a Technetium Phenylimido Complex. The X-ray Crystal Structure of [TcO(SC6H2Pr3i)2 (PhNNCON2HPh)]", Inorg. Chim. Acta, 1990, 168, 227.

Kronauge, J., Davison, A., Roseberry, A., Costello, C., Jones, A.G., "Synthesis and Identification of the Monocation Tc(CPI)6+ in Tc(CNC(CH3)2 COOCH3)6Cl and Its Hydrolysis Products", Inorg. Chem., 30, 4265.

de Vries, N., Cook, J., Jones, A.G., Davison, A., "Technetium(III) Complexes with the Tetradentate 'Umbrella' Ligand Tris(o-thiophenyl) phosphine: X-ray Structural Characterization of Tc(P(o-C6H4S)3)(CNC3H7) and Tc(P(o-C6H4S)3)(CNC3H7)2", Inorg. Chem., 30, 2662.

Delmon-Moingeon, L.I., Mahmood, A., Davison, A., Jones, A.G. "Strategies for labeling monoclonal antibodies and antibody-like molecules with technetium-99m", J. Nucl. Biol. Med., 1991, 35, 47.

Nicholson, T., Davison, A., Jones, A.G. "The synthesis of a technetium(V) phenylimido complex from pertechnetate. The single crystal X-ray structure of [TcCl3(NPh)(PPh3)2]CH2Cl2", Inorg. Chim. Acta, 1991, 187, 51.

Thomas, J.A.; Davison, A. "High Oxidation State Technetium and Rhenium Complexes of Hydro-tris(1-pyralolyl)borate", Inorg. Chim. Acta, 1991, 190, 231.

DiZio, J.P.; Fiaschi, R.; Davison, A.; Jones, A.G.; Katzenellenbogen, J.A. "Progestin-rhenium Complexes: Metal-labeled Steroids with High Receptor Binding Affinity, Potential Receptor-directed Agents for Diagnostic Imaging or Therapy", Bioconj. Chem., 1991, 2, 353.

Kronauge, J.F.; Chiu, M.L.; Cone, J.S.; Davison, A.; Holman, B.L.; Jones, A.G.; Piwnica-Worms, D. "Comparison of Neutral and Cationic Myocardial Perfusion Agents: Characteristics of Accumulation in Cultured Cells", Nucl. Med. Biol., 1992, 19, 141.