Seeing more with PET scans: Surprising new mechanism for attaching chemical tracers discovered

The chemical mechanism, discovered by scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley, could also broaden our understanding of basic chemical reaction processes involving common helpers, called catalysts, like copper and gold.

While studying chemical reactions of a gold-containing molecule, the research team happened upon a chemical mechanism that can be used to form trifluoromethyl (CF3) compounds and attach them to other chemical compounds.

Their discovery could aid in the synthesis of new "radiotracers" - chemical compounds that contain a radioactive form, or isotope, of an element - for use with a noninvasive, high-resolution 3-D medical imaging technology known as PET (positron emission tomography) scanning.

Drug companies have shown an increasing interest in incorporating CF3 compounds - which contain carbon and fluorine - in a range of pharmaceuticals. These compounds can make drugs more selective, effective, or potent. The antidepressant Prozac, HIV drug Sustiva, and anti-inflammatory Celebrex are among the examples of drugs containing CF3 compounds.

So in testing the biological uptake of drugs that incorporate CF3 compounds, it's useful to incorporate fluorine-18(18F), a radioactive isotope of fluorine in the CF3 compound as a sort of label or "tracer" that can be detected by PET scanners.

To read more please visit: https://phys.org/news/2017-07-pet-scans-mechanism-chemical-tracers.html

Source: Phys.org