Synthesis of [ 18 F]‐6‐deoxy‐6‐fluoro‐ D ‐glucose ([ 18 F]6FDG), a potential tracer of glucose transport

With the goal of developing a PET radioligand for the in vivo assessment of glucose transport, 6‐deoxy‐6‐[ 18 F]fluoro‐ D ‐glucose ([ 18 F]6FDG) was prepared in two steps from 18 F − . Starting with D ‐glucose, the tosyl‐ and mesyl‐derivatives of 3,5‐ O ‐benzylidene‐1,2‐ O ‐isopropylidene‐ α ‐ D ‐glucofuranose were prepared by known methods. Reaction of either of these precursors with 18 F − resulted in the formation of 3,5‐ O ‐benzylidene‐6‐deoxy‐6‐[ 18 F]‐fluoro‐1,2‐ O ‐isopropylidene‐ α ‐ D ‐glucofuranose in high yield. Subsequent hydrolysis resulted in the production of [ 18 F]6FDG. Under optimal conditions, [ 18 F]6FDG is produced 60–70 min after end of bombardment (EOB) in 71 ± 12% yield (decay corrected, based upon fluoride) with a radiochemical purity of ⩾96%. Preliminary experiments have indicated that [ 18 F]6FDG may be a more representative in vivo tracer for the glucose transporter than 2FDG. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.