A one-step fully automated radio-synthesis of a dopamine transporter PET imaging agent 18F-FECNT and its in vivo evaluations

Abstract

2β-Carbomethoxy-3β-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)nortropane ([18F]-FECNT) is a potential dopamine transporter PET imaging agent. However, its current radio-synthesis is tedious and time consuming. In this article, we reported a fully automatic method for the synthesis of [18F] FECNT through only one step, using a TRACERlab FXN module, with decay corrected radiochemical yield of 25 ± 5 % (n = 5). The total synthesis time was 50–55 min. The synthesized [18F]FECNT was evaluated in vivo in Parkinson’s disease model rats.