Radiofluorination of arylboronic acids pinacol esters (arylBPin) mediated by copper triflate pyridine complex is one of the more promising synthetic approaches for the direct introduction of nucleophilic [18F]fluoride into non‐activated arenes and heteroarenes. However, the application of this method to the production of positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers in automated synthesizers remains a challenging task. The choice of phase‐transfer catalyst (PTC) and corresponding base used for the generation of reactive [18F]fluoride species has a profound impact on the efficiency of the 18F‐fluorination process. Herein we report the development of a simple procedure involving trapping of the aqueous [18F]fluoride on a weak anion‐exchange resin (WAX) and its release by elution with pyridinium sulfonate in dimethyl acetamide. Obtained reactive [18F]fluoride was used as‐is in a copper‐catalyzed fluorination reaction employing pyridinium salt as both PTC and base. High radiochemical conversion rates (RCCs) achieved for a series of simple arylBPin substrates and 4‐[18F]fluoro‐D,L‐phenylalanine demonstrate the efficiency of this novel 18F‐processing approach. Notably, the proposed method obviates conventional azeotropic drying steps, solvents evaporation and/or changeover and can be implemented on commercial automated synthesizers.

The rise of the transition‐metal‐mediated and/or catalyzed radiofluorination reactions has led us to investigate possibilities for the improvement of the radiolabeling yields of pinacol esters of arylboronic acids (arylBPin) in the presence of Cu(OTf)2(py)4. Addition of small amounts pyridine to the reaction medium with DMF as a solvent and [18F]F−/K222Cs+complex as [18F]fluoride source was shown to have a significant positive effect on the radiofluorination yields. The effect was investigated in depth using 4‐biphenylboronic acid pinacol ester as a model compound, with up to 20 % increase in radiochemical conversion observed at optimized conditions. Maximum effect was observed at pyridine‐to‐catalyst ratio of 30:1. The findings were applied to a representative electron‐rich ring systems that are traditionally difficult or impossible to radiolabel with nucleophilic fluoride, leading to products such as 2‐[18F]fluoroanisole and protected 4‐L‐[18F]fluorophenylalanine. Given the ever‐present pressure to develop new methods for introduction of fluorine‐18 into various substrates to facilitate easy and robust production of clinically‐relevant radiotracers for PET imaging we believe our findings can be of significant practical interest for radiofluorination of ortho‐substituted substrates in particular.

In the era of personalized precision medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) and related hybrid methods like PET/CT and PET/MRI gain recognition as indispensable tools of clinical diagnostics. A broader implementation of these imaging modalities in clinical routine is closely dependent on the increased availability of established and emerging PET-tracers, which in turn could be accessible by the development of simple, reliable, and efficient radiolabeling procedures. A further requirement is a cGMP production of imaging probes in automated synthesis modules. Herein, a novel protocol for the efficient preparation of 18F-labeled aromatics via Cu-mediated radiofluorination of (aryl)(mesityl)iodonium salts without the need of evaporation steps is described. Labeled aromatics were prepared in high radiochemical yields simply by heating of iodonium [18F]fluorides with the Cu-mediator in methanolic DMF. The iodonium [18F]fluorides were prepared by direct elution of 18F− from an anion exchange resin with solutions of the corresponding precursors in MeOH/DMF. The practicality of the novel method was confirmed by the racemization-free production of radiolabeled fluorophenylalanines, including hitherto unknown 3-[18F]FPhe, in 22–69% isolated radiochemical yields as well as its direct implementation into a remote-controlled synthesis unit.

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