Fast Production of Highly Reactive No‐Carrier‐Added [¹⁸F]Fluoride for the Labeling of Radiopharmaceuticals

Abstract

Doing without water: The 18F labeling of radiopharmaceuticals requires nearly anhydrous solutions of [18F]fluoride. Aqueous K2CO3 is generally used to elute [18F]fluoride from an anion-exchange resin. Replacing aqueous K2CO3 with strong organic bases, such as the phosphazene base P2Et (conjugate acid shown), enabled the recovery of highly reactive [18F]fluoride and avoided the azeotropic evaporation of water, which is very difficult on a microchip device.