Potentiometric and spectroscopic methods were used to evaluate the binding
ability of the series of amino-phosphonates containing pyridine as a side-c
hain. The involvement of pyridine nitrogen in the Cu(II) binding results in
very effective chelation of the metal ion. The binding ability of some pyr
idine-containing ligands is comparable to powerful imidazole amino-phosphon
ates. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.