New approaches to carbon-11 labeled carbonyl and thiocarbonyl groups for positron emission tomography radiotracer synthesis and development

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Carbon-11 is a short-lived radioactive isotope with a half-life of 20.3 minutes, and which has important applications for biochemistry research, drug development, and diagnostic medical imaging. Since carbon atoms form the backbone of all organic compounds and nearly all biomolecules, drugs, and imaging agents, carbon-11 is the most versatile isotope for preparing labeled analogues of these for imaging without changing their behaviour in living systems. To synthesize imaging agents with carbon-11, chemical transformations need to be performed in rapid succession with high efficiency under strictly controlled conditions to ensure reproducible results and the safety and utility of products. Our research program develops improved chemical methods with carbon-11 and new imaging agents using this isotope. Specifically, we believe that methods for incorporating high oxidation state carbon-11 labels into molecules from its production form as carbon dioxide and similar derivatives such as carbon monoxide and cyanide will greatly expand the synthetic armament for this isotope and directly lead to novel and improved radiopharmaceuticals available to power molecular imaging.