Copper-Mediated Radiosynthesis of [¹⁸F]Rucaparib

The poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor rucaparib is used in the clinic to treat BRCA-mutated cancers. Herein, we report two strategies to access the ¹⁸F-isotopologue of rucaparib by applying a copper-mediated nucleophilic ¹⁸F-fluorodeboronation. The most successful approach features an aldehydic boronic ester precursor that is subjected to reductive amination post-¹⁸F-labeling and affords [¹⁸F]rucaparib with an activity yield of 11% ± 3% (n = 3) and a molar activity (A_m) up to 30 GBq/micromol. Preliminary in vitro studies are presented.