EDTA chelates from lithium to uranium surveyed by deposited data of crystal structures

A comprehensive survey of the metal chelates formed by ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA), widely used chelating agent typically known as six-coordination form with metal ions in biomedical science, was aimed to enhance our understanding of the diverse structures thereof, based on crystal structural data registered in the Cambridge crystal structure database (CCDC) until April 2025. As many as 702 data sets were classified, and it was resulted that some metal species are well investigated, otherwise, others are not. For instance, bismuth-EDTA, utilized in nuclear medicine for radioisotope chelation, occupies the second position. This is the first report that such a large number of dense datasets have been gathered ranging from lithium to uranium of EDTA chelates. This study would provide important insights into the diversity of EDTA complexes to facilitate future research and development in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences.