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Updated: Sep 28, 2025

18F-Labeling of Radiotracers Functionalized with a Silicon Fluoride Acceptor SiFA for Positron Emission Tomography

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[¹⁸F]Difluorocarbene for positron emission tomography.

Jeroen B I Sap¹, Claudio F Meyer^1,2, Joseph Ford¹

¹University of Oxford, Chemistry Research Laboratory, Oxford, UK.

|March 28, 2022

Summary

Researchers developed a novel fluorine-18 difluorocarbene reagent for efficient radiolabeling. This breakthrough enables high-molar-activity difluoromethylation, crucial for pharmaceutical drug discovery and molecular imaging applications.

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Area of Science:

Nuclear imaging
Radiochemistry
Organic synthesis

Background:

Total-body positron emission tomography (PET) expands molecular imaging research.
Fluorine-18 (¹⁸F) radiochemistry has advanced, but ¹⁸F-difluoromethylation remains challenging.
The difluoromethyl group is vital for pharmaceutical drug discovery.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a general solution for ¹⁸F-difluoromethylation.
To develop a versatile [¹⁸F]difluorocarbene reagent for nuclear imaging.
To enable high molar activity labeling of difluoromethylated molecules.

Main Methods:

Utilized carbene chemistry for nuclear imaging applications.
Designed a novel [¹⁸F]difluorocarbene reagent for facile accessibility and high molar activity.
Investigated isotopic dilution effects on precursor electronics.
Demonstrated versatility through O-H, S-H, and N-H insertions, and cross-coupling reactions.

Main Results:

Developed a general solution for ¹⁸F-difluoromethylation.
Achieved high molar activity labeling.
Showcased reagent versatility with various functional groups including (thio)phenols, N-heteroarenes, and aryl boronic acids.
Successfully labeled complex, biologically relevant molecules and radiotracers.

Conclusions:

The new [¹⁸F]difluorocarbene reagent overcomes previous limitations in ¹⁸F-difluoromethylation.
This method provides facile access to high molar activity difluoromethylated compounds.
The reagent's versatility and impact are demonstrated in labeling complex molecules for PET imaging and drug discovery.