Fluorine-18: Radiochemistry and Target-Specific PET Molecular Probes Design

• Published in: Frontiers in chemistry Vol. 10; p. 884517
• Main Authors: Wang, Yunze, Lin, Qingyu, Shi, Hongcheng, Cheng, Dengfeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 29.06.2022
• Subjects: 18 F-radiolabeling; Chemistry; fluorination; fluoroalkylation; PET imaging; PET radiotracers; fluorination; fluoroalkylation; 18 F-radiolabeling; PET imaging; PET radiotracers
• ISSN: 2296-2646; 2296-2646
• DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2022.884517

The positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging technology has gained universal value as a critical tool for assessing biological and biochemical processes in living subjects. The favorable chemical, physical, and nuclear characteristics of fluorine-18 (97% β + decay, 109.8 min half-life, 635 keV positron energy) make it an attractive nuclide for labeling and molecular imaging. It stands that 2-[ 18 F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([ 18 F]FDG) is the most popular PET tracer. Besides that, a significantly abundant proportion of PET probes in clinical use or under development contain a fluorine or fluoroalkyl substituent group. For the reasons given above, 18 F-labeled radiotracer design has become a hot topic in radiochemistry and radiopharmaceutics. Over the past decades, we have witnessed a rapid growth in 18 F-labeling methods owing to the development of new reagents and catalysts. This review aims to provide an overview of strategies in radiosynthesis of [ 18 F]fluorine-containing moieties with nucleophilic [ 18 F]fluorides since 2015.