Methoxyphenyl piperazine is a versatile pharmacophore and has been exploited for targeting 5HT1A receptors. In the present study, silver nanoparticles were conjugated (capped) with methoxyphenyl piperazine-dithiocarbamate for application as targeted optical imaging agent at extremely low detection limits. Our results demonstrate an easy synthesis of the ligand methoxyphenyl piperazine-dithiocarbamate and silver nanoparticles and their conjugation was free from extraneous impurities.
Keywords: optical imaging; receptor imaging; targeted nanoparticles.