A quartz-lined carbon-11 target: striving for increased yield and specific activity

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Chemistry
• Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Increasing demand for high specific radioactivity neuroreceptor ligands for Positron Emission Tomography (PET).
• Need for high yields of carbon-11 (¹¹C) for radiopharmaceutical production.
• Limitations of existing targets for ¹¹C production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel quartz-lined aluminum target for enhanced production of carbon-11 gases.
• To improve yields and specific radioactivity of ¹¹C-labeled compounds.
• To address the demand for high specific radioactivity PET ligands.

Main Methods:

• Design and implementation of a new quartz-lined aluminum target.
• Testing of the target for yields of [(11)C]methane and [(11)C]carbon dioxide.
• Evaluation of the quartz liner's effect on radioactivity loss.
• Measurement of specific radioactivities of produced radiopharmaceuticals.

Main Results:

• The new target achieves excellent yields for [(11)C]-labeled gases.
• Significant reduction in radioactivity loss during [(11)C]methane production due to the quartz liner.
• Production of radiopharmaceuticals with specific radioactivities up to 9000 GBq/μmol at end of bombardment (EOB).

Conclusions:

• Development of a reliable and high-yielding carbon-11 gas target.
• The target is routinely used for producing high specific activity radiopharmaceuticals.
• Successful enhancement of PET ligand production through improved ¹¹C gas synthesis.