Medical Physics Seminar – Monday, April 25, 2011
Production of electrophilic PET synthons: [F-18]F2 and [CI-34m]CIF from a high voltage discharge
Jonathan Engle (student of Dr. R.J. Nickles)
Research Assistant, Department of Medical Physics, UW-School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, WI USA
Synthesis of high specific activity electrophilic radiohalogens has eluded all but a few radiochemists for more than three decades. As a result, most radiochemistry for PET imaging has relied on nucleophilic substitution [F-18] <-> X, presupposing a designer precursor with a suitable leaving group X. However, exchange reactions between two aryl radiohalogens, F-18 and Cl-34m, and umol quantities of F2 gas in electrical discharge plasma now produce [F-18]F2 and [Cl-34m]ClF for electrophilic syntheses at Wisconsin. The latter, Cl-34m, is produced via the (d,<alpha>) nuclear reaction on enriched Ar-36 gas.