A general copper-mediated nucleophilic 18F fluorination of arenes

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2014 Jul 21;53(30):7751-5. doi: 10.1002/anie.201404436. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

Abstract

Molecules labeled with fluorine-18 are used as radiotracers for positron emission tomography. An important challenge is the labeling of arenes not amenable to aromatic nucleophilic substitution (SNAr) with [(18)F]F(-). In the ideal case, the (18)F fluorination of these substrates would be performed through reaction of [(18)F]KF with shelf-stable readily available precursors using a broadly applicable method suitable for automation. Herein, we describe the realization of these requirements with the production of (18)F arenes from pinacol-derived aryl boronic esters (arylBPin) upon treatment with [(18)F]KF/K222 and [Cu(OTf)2(py)4] (OTf = trifluoromethanesulfonate, py = pyridine). This method tolerates electron-poor and electron-rich arenes and various functional groups, and allows access to 6-[(18)F]fluoro-L-DOPA, 6-[(18)F]fluoro-m-tyrosine, and the translocator protein (TSPO) PET ligand [(18)F]DAA1106.

Keywords: aryl boronic esters; copper; fluorination; fluorine-18; positron emission tomography.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Fluorine Radioisotopes / chemistry*
  • Halogenation / physiology*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*

Substances

  • Fluorine Radioisotopes
  • Copper