title: A facile and rapid automated synthesis of 3'-deoxy-3'-[(18)F]fluorothymidine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a simplified and fully automated synthesis procedure of 3'-deoxy-3'-[(18)F]fluorothymidine ([(18)F]FLT) using PET-MF-2V-IT-I synthesis module.
  
  
  METHODS
  Synthesis of [(18)F]FLT was performed using PET-MF-2V-IT-I synthesis module by one-pot two-step reaction procedure, including nucleophilic fluorination of 3-N-t-butoxycarbonyl-1-[5'-O-(4,4'-dimethoxy triphenylmethyl)-2'-deoxy-3'-O-(4-nitrobenzenesulfonyl)-beta-d-threopentofuranosyl]thymine (15mg) as the precursor molecule with [(18)F]fluoride, and subsequent hydrolysis of the protecting group with 1.0M HCl at the same reaction vessel and purification with SEP PAK cartridges instead of the HPLC system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The automated synthesis of [(18)F]FLT with SEP PAK purification gave corrected radiochemical yield of 23.2+/-2.6% (n=6, uncorrected yield: 16-22%) and radiochemical purity of >97% within the total synthesis time of 35min.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The fully one-pot automated synthesis procedure with SEP PAK purification can be applied to the fully automated synthesis of [(18)F]FLT using commercial [(18)F]FDG synthesis module.
authors.affiliation: PET-CT Center, Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. gtang0224@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Ganghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xiaolan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Fuhua
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Mingfang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Baoyuan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D015224:Dideoxynucleosides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007553:Isotope Labeling / Q000379:methods; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012371:Robotics / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C002854:alovudine