Direct C-H Radiocyanation of Arenes via Organic Photoredox Catalysis.

Abstract

Innovative labeling methods to incorporate the short-lived positron emitter carbon-11(11C) into bioactive molecules are attractive for positron emission tomography (PET) tracer discovery. Herein, we report a direct C-H radiocyanation method that incorporates [11C]cyanide (11CN-) to a series of functional electron-rich arenes via photoredox catalysis. This photoredox-mediated radiocyanation can proceed in an aerobic environment and is not moisture sensitive, which allows for ease of reaction setup and for scalable synthesis of 11C-aryl nitriles from readily available precursors.