Arylboronic acids as captors of aqueous 18F-fluoride for the one step labeling of biomolecules suitable for PET imaging.

The 18F-labeling of biomols. usually requires multistep syntheses that begin with a short-lived radiolabeled prosthetic that is taken through 1-3 addnl. steps to finally attach it to the macromol. of interest. Because of nuclear decay, any increase in synthesis time reduces radiochem. yields. Hence, we recognized the wisdom of a one step high-yielding labeling method, which is embodied in a 64Cu wash-in used to label DOTA-linked bioconjugates, but which would introduce [18F]-fluoride, as it is the isotope of choice for PET. In a series of publications towards that end, we exploited the fluorophilic properties of boron to develop a series of boronic-acid-modified bioconjugates that capture [18F]-fluoride in a one-step aq. process that affords labeling of biomols. in high yield and in the final step of the synthesis. We have also described the kinetic and thermodn. regimes whereby aryltrifluoroborates will be useful for labeling biomols., and we discussed how specific activities in excess of 1Ci/mmol will be readily achieved. The labeling of various mols. and their in vivo stability will be described. [on SciFinder(R)]