skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A Transmetalation Reaction Enables the Synthesis of [18F]5-Fluorouracil from [18F]Fluoride for Human PET Imaging

Journal Article · · Organometallics
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [4];  [5]
  1. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  3. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States); Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA (United States); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)
  4. Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA (United States); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)
  5. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States); Max-Planck-Institut fur Kohlenforschung, Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany)

Translation of new 18F-fluorination reactions to produce radiotracers for human positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is rare because the chemistry must have useful scope and the process for 18F-labeled tracer production must be robust and simple to execute. The application of transition metal mediators has enabled impactful 18F-fluorination methods, but to date none of these reactions have been applied to produce a human-injectable PET tracer. In this article we present chemistry and process innovations that culminate in the first production from [18F]fluoride of human doses of [18F]5-fluorouracil, a PET tracer for cancer imaging in humans. Here, the first preparation of nickel σ-aryl complexes by transmetalation from arylboronic acids or esters was developed and enabled the synthesis of the [18F]5-fluorouracil precursor. Routine production of >10 mCi doses of [18F]5-fluorouracil was accomplished with a new instrument for azeotrope-free [18F]fluoride concentration in a process that leverages the tolerance of water in nickel-mediated 18F-fluorination.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0001249; SC0008430
OSTI ID:
1434480
Journal Information:
Organometallics, Vol. 35, Issue 7; ISSN 0276-7333
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 43 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (76)

Transition Metal-Mediated and Metal-Catalyzed Carbon–Fluorine Bond Formation book January 2014
Radiosynthesis and Evaluation of [18F]Selectfluor bis(triflate) journal August 2010
Palladium-Catalyzed Allylic Fluorination journal February 2011
A Fluoride-Derived Electrophilic Late-Stage Fluorination Reagent for PET Imaging journal November 2011
Nickel-Mediated Oxidative Fluorination for PET with Aqueous [ 18 F] Fluoride journal October 2012
[18F]Fluorination of an arylboronic ester using [18F]selectfluor bis(triflate): application to 6-[18F]fluoro-l-DOPA journal January 2013
Application of Palladium-Mediated 18F-Fluorination to PET Radiotracer Development: Overcoming Hurdles to Translation journal March 2013
Enantioselective Radiosynthesis of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Tracers Containing [ 18 F]Fluorohydrins journal February 2014
Late Stage Benzylic C–H Fluorination with [ 18 F]Fluoride for PET Imaging journal May 2014
Synthesis and Imaging Validation of [ 18 F]MDL100907 Enabled by Ni-Mediated Fluorination journal May 2014
A General Copper-Mediated Nucleophilic 18 F Fluorination of Arenes journal June 2014
Copper-Catalyzed [ 18 F]Fluorination of (Mesityl)(aryl)iodonium Salts journal June 2014
A Practical One-Pot Synthesis of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Tracers via Nickel-Mediated Radiofluorination journal May 2015
Targeted Fluorination with the Fluoride Ion by Manganese-Catalyzed Decarboxylation journal March 2015
Nucleophilic 18 F-Fluorination of Heteroaromatic Iodonium Salts with No-Carrier-Added [ 18 F]Fluoride journal June 2007
Metal-Free Oxidative Fluorination of Phenols with [ 18 F]Fluoride journal May 2012
Iodonium ylides for one-step, no-carrier-added radiofluorination of electron rich arenes, exemplified with 4-(([ 18 F]fluorophenoxy)-phenylmethyl)piperidine NET and SERT ligands journal January 2014
Spirocyclic hypervalent iodine(III)-mediated radiofluorination of non-activated and hindered aromatics journal July 2014
Iodonium Ylide-Mediated Radiofluorination of 18F-FPEB and Validation for Human Use journal February 2015
18F-5-fluorouracil studies in humans and animals journal April 1980
18F‐labeled fluorouracil positron emission tomography and the prognoses of colorectal carcinoma patients with metastases to the liver treated with 5‐fluorouracil journal July 1998
Noninvasive determination of the arterial input function of an anticancer drug from dynamic PET scans using the population approach journal April 1999
Modulation of fluorouracil tissue pharmacokinetics by eniluracil: in-vivo imaging of drug action journal June 2000
Biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of [18F]-5-fluorouracil journal May 2013
A simple synthesis of 18F-labelled 5-fluorouracil using acetylhypofluorite journal January 1984
An optimized synthesis of 18F-labelled 5-fluorouracil and a reevaluation of its use as a prognostic agent journal May 1989
Fluorine-18-labeled fluorine gas for synthesis of tracer molecules journal October 1997
Ni(II)−(σ-Aryl) Complex:  A Facile, Efficient Catalyst for Nickel-Catalyzed Carbon−Nitrogen Coupling Reactions journal July 2007
Nickel(II)–aryl complexes as catalysts for the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of chloroarenes and arylboronic acids journal March 2007
Bimetallic Effects for Enhanced Polar Comonomer Enchainment Selectivity in Catalytic Ethylene Polymerization journal April 2009
Room-Temperature Nickel-Catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura Reactions of Aryl Sulfonates/Halides with Arylboronic Acids journal January 2011
Highly Reactive, Single-Component Nickel Catalyst Precursor for Suzuki-Miyuara Cross-Coupling of Heteroaryl Boronic Acids with Heteroaryl Halides journal November 2012
Pincer-Ligated Nickel Hydridoborate Complexes: the Dormant Species in Catalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with Boranes journal May 2012
Dimerization of Ethylene by Nickel Phosphino–Borate Complexes journal March 2013
Simplifying Nickel(0) Catalysis: An Air-Stable Nickel Precatalyst for the Internally Selective Benzylation of Terminal Alkenes journal January 2013
Air-Stable Nickel Precatalysts for Fast and Quantitative Cross-Coupling of Aryl Sulfamates with Aryl Neopentylglycolboronates at Room Temperature journal December 2014
Development of an Air-Stable Nickel Precatalyst for the Amination of Aryl Chlorides, Sulfamates, Mesylates, and Triflates journal November 2013
A Broadly Applicable Strategy for Entry into Homogeneous Nickel(0) Catalysts from Air-Stable Nickel(II) Complexes journal April 2014
A Modular, Air-Stable Nickel Precatalyst journal April 2015
Mechanism of biaryl synthesis with nickel complexes journal December 1979
1,4-Shifts in a Dinuclear Ni(I) Biarylyl Complex:  A Mechanistic Study of C−H Bond Activation by Monovalent Nickel journal January 2007
Nickel Hydroxo Complexes as Intermediates in Nickel-Catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura Cross-Coupling journal April 2014
Nickel-Catalyzed Negishi Arylations of Propargylic Bromides: A Mechanistic Investigation journal November 2014
Organometallic Nickel(III) Complexes Relevant to Cross-Coupling and Carbon–Heteroatom Bond Formation Reactions journal April 2014
Design, synthesis, and carbon-heteroatom coupling reactions of organometallic nickel(IV) complexes journal February 2015
The Reaction of Aryl and Vinyl Halides with Nickel(0) Complexes journal January 1970
Oxidative additions of aryl, vinyl, and acyl halides to triethylphosphinenickel(0) complexes journal April 1977
Mechanism of oxidative addition. Reaction of nickel(0) complexes with aromatic halides journal October 1979
345. Alkyls and aryls of transition metals. Part III. Nickel(II) derivatives journal January 1960
Preparation and reductive elimination of (.eta.3-allyl)(aryl)nickel(II) complexes: unusually facile .eta.3-allyl-aryl coupling on nickel having an 18-electron configuration journal December 1990
Aryl−Oxazoline Chelates of First-Row Transition Metals: Structures of {κ- C , N -( o -C 6 H 4 )CMe 2 (COCH 2 CMe 2 N)}FeCl(py) and [(κ- C , N -( o -C 6 H 4 )CMe 2 (COCH 2 CMe 2 N)}Cr(μ-Cl)] 2 journal December 2010
Chemistry of the cyclopentadienylmetal carbonyls. VIII. The reaction of a cationic cyclopentadienylnickel compound with pentafluorophenyllithium journal March 1968
Synthesis and properties of cobalt and nickel complexes with the tripod ligand tris(2-diphenylarsinoethyl)amine. Structural characterization of a .sigma.-phenyl complex of nickel(II) with the same ligand journal February 1976
Synthesis and characterization of group 10 metal complexes with a new trifunctional ether phosphine. The X-ray crystal structures of bis[bis(2-ethoxyethyl)benzylphosphine] dichloronickel(II) and bis[bis(2-ethoxyethyl)benzylphosphine]chlorophenylnickel(II) journal April 1995
Pentafluoroaryl Transfer from Tris(pentafluorophenyl)boron Hydrate to Nickel. Synthesis and X-ray Crystal Structure of (PPh 2 CH 2 C(O)Ph)Ni(C 6 F 5 ) 2 journal September 2000
Intermolecular Arene C−H Activation by Nickel(II) journal December 2006
Role of B(C6F5)3 in activating the nickel-methyl complex (η5-C5H5)Ni(CH3)(PPh3) to initiate the vinyl polymerization of norbornene journal March 2009
Zur Reaktion von Koordinationsverbindungen des Nickels und Kobalts mit Triphenylstannyl-lithium bzw. -natrium journal April 1973
Carboxylation of Organoboronic Esters Catalyzed by N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Copper(I) Complexes journal July 2008
Catalytic S N 2′-Selective Substitution of Allylic Chlorides With Arylboronic Esters journal June 2010
Copper-Catalyzed 1,4-Addition of Organoboronates to Alkylidene Cyanoacetates: Mechanistic Insight and Application to Asymmetric Catalysis journal April 2011
Fluoroalkylcopper(I) Complexes Generated by the Carbocupration of Tetrafluoroethylene: Construction of a Tetrafluoroethylene-Bridging Structure journal October 2014
Aryl Mesylates in Metal Catalyzed Homocoupling and Cross-Coupling Reactions. 2. Suzuki-Type Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Aryl Arenesulfonates and Aryl Mesylates with Arylboronic Acids journal February 1995
Suzuki-type coupling of chloroarenes with arylboronic acids catalysed by nickel complexes journal May 1997
Suzuki aryl couplings mediated by phosphine-free nickel complexes journal October 1999
Synthesis of Biaryls via Cross-Coupling Reaction of Arylboronic Acids with Aryl Chlorides Catalyzed by NiCl2/Triphenylphosphine Complexes journal October 2000
NiCl 2 (PCy 3 ) 2 :  A Simple and Efficient Catalyst Precursor for the Suzuki Cross-Coupling of Aryl Tosylates and Arylboronic Acids journal September 2001
Suzuki cross-coupling of aryl halides with aryl boronic acids catalyzed by phosphine-free NiCl2·6H2O journal May 2002
Scope and limitation of the nickel-catalyzed coupling reaction between lithium borates and mesylates journal July 2002
NiCl 2 (dppe)-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Aryl Mesylates, Arenesulfonates, and Halides with Arylboronic Acids journal May 2004
Amino Alcohols as Ligands for Nickel-Catalyzed Suzuki Reactions of Unactivated Alkyl Halides, Including Secondary Alkyl Chlorides, with Arylboronic Acids journal April 2006
Bis-diimidazolylidine complexes of nickel: Investigations into nickel catalyzed coupling reactions journal January 2012
Carbon−Fluorine Reductive Elimination from a High-Valent Palladium Fluoride journal August 2008
Fluoridation of heteroaromatic iodonium salts—experimental evidence supporting theoretical prediction of the selectivity of the process journal January 2000
Direct N-alkyl azidonation of N,N-dialkylarylamines with the iodosylbenzene/trimethylsilyl azide reagent combination journal October 1993
Mild Oxidation of Benzylic Amines into Aldehydes Using an Oxidative Polonovski-Like Process journal May 2012

Cited By (18)

Carbon-Fluorine Reductive Elimination from Nickel(III) Complexes journal May 2017
Automated synthesis of PET radiotracers by copper-mediated 18 F-fluorination of organoborons: Importance of the order of addition and competing protodeborylation
  • Mossine, Andrew V.; Brooks, Allen F.; Bernard-Gauthier, Vadim
  • Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals, Vol. 61, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/jlcr.3583
journal February 2018
Radiosynthesis of the norepinephrine transporter tracer [ 18 F]NS12137 via copper-mediated 18 F-labelling journal May 2019
Facile 18F labeling of non-activated arenes via a spirocyclic iodonium(III) ylide method and its application in the synthesis of the mGluR5 PET radiopharmaceutical [18F]FPEB journal April 2019
Mechanistic studies and radiofluorination of structurally diverse pharmaceuticals with spirocyclic iodonium( iii ) ylides journal January 2016
Synthesis of [ 18 F]Fluoroarenes by Nucleophilic Radiofluorination of N -Arylsydnones journal September 2017
Fluorinated nucleosides as an important class of anticancer and antiviral agents journal October 2017
Bioconjugated arylpalladium complexes on solid supports for a convenient last-step synthesis of 11 C-labelled tracers for positron emission tomography journal January 2019
Chemie der Positronenemissionstomographie: Aktuelle Fortschritte bei 11 C‐, 18 F‐, 13 N‐ und 15 O‐Markierungsreaktionen journal January 2019
Chemistry for Positron Emission Tomography: Recent Advances in 11 C-, 18 F-, 13 N-, and 15 O-Labeling Reactions journal January 2019
Fluorination methods for drug discovery and development journal August 2016
Fast and efficient copper-mediated 18F-fluorination of arylstannanes, aryl boronic acids, and aryl boronic esters without azeotropic drying journal October 2019
Alcohol-Supported Cu-Mediated 18F-Fluorination of Iodonium Salts under “Minimalist” Conditions journal September 2019
One-pot synthesis of high molar activity 6-[ 18 F]fluoro- l -DOPA by Cu-mediated fluorination of a BPin precursor journal January 2019
Carbon-Fluorine Reductive Elimination from Nickel(III) Complexes journal May 2017
Synthesis of [ 18 F]Fluoroarenes by Nucleophilic Radiofluorination of N -Arylsydnones journal September 2017
Copper-Mediated Radiofluorination of Arylstannanes with [ 18 F]KF journal October 2016
Moving Metal-Mediated 18 F-Fluorination from Concept to Clinic journal March 2016


Figures / Tables (6)


Similar Records

Synthesis of [{sup 18}F]Ro41-0960, a potent COMT inhibitor, for use in vivo mapping with PET
Journal Article · Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Journal of Nuclear Medicine · OSTI ID:1434480

PET Imaging of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase with [18F]DOPP in Nonhuman Primates
Journal Article · Tue Jul 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Molecular Pharmaceutics · OSTI ID:1434480

Drug-specific [sup 19]F NMR and dynamic [sup 18]F PET imaging of the cytostatic agent 5-fluorouracil
Conference · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1994 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) · OSTI ID:1434480