Aspects of 6-[¹⁸F]fluoro-F-DOPA preparation: experiences with chloroform as a substitute solvent for Freon 11

An increasing number of PET centers is using 6-[18F]fluoro-L-DOPA ([18F]FDOPA) to study presynaptic dopamine metabolism in vivo.
Currently the electrophilic radiofluoro-destannylation reaction of N-Boc-3,4-di(Boc-O)-6-trimethylstannyl-L-phenylalanine ethyl ester with [18F]F2 has emerged as the preparation method of choice for the reliable and reproducible radiosynthesis of [18F]FDOPA (1-5).
Up to now the radiofluorination step of the trimethyltin precursor is carried out in trichlorofluoromethan (CFCl3, Freon 11) as the solvent. De Vries et al. (4) have reported Freon 11 as the superior solvent to provide the highest radiochemical yields for the radiofluorination step. The authors also have investigated the possibility to substitute Freon 11 with other solvents. They observed considerable losses of radioactivity (61-71%) during the evaporation step of the solvents (e.g. chloroform and acetonitrile). They discussed this finding with the formation of volatile radiofluorine compounds originating from the reaction of [18F]F2 gas with the solvents.
For Freon 11 is hardly available in Europe for environmental protection reasons, we investigated the possibility of substituting Freon 11 with chloroform. In contrast to (4) we use 5 M HCl for protecting group hydrolysis. The acid is added directly after the radiofluorination step and the solvent was evaporated at 130°C. First results with chloroform also show increased losses of radioactivity in comparison to Freon 11. However, we found that the rate of radioactivity loss depends on the quality of the chloroform used. The radioactivity losses using chloroform stabilised with ethanol were in the range of 25%, whereas the amylene stabilised chloroform gave losses of 40%. In contrast, using deuterated chloroform (CDCl3) for NMR analysis purposes stabilised with silver no significant losses of radioactivity were observed in comparison with Freon 11. We conclude that no competitive radiofluorination of the solvent chloroform, neither CHCl3 nor CDCl3, with [18F]F2 occures. Instead of that the observed radioactivity losses can be explained by the radiofluorination of stabilisers present in CHCl3.The non-decay-corrected total yield for [18F]FDOPA preparation using Freon 11 as the solvent is 17% (n = 26). Using CDCl3 (silver stabilised) instead of CFCl3 the average non-decay-corrected total yield is slightly higher, being 20% (n = 17).
The use of CDCl3 has further advantages:

• easy handling (boiling point = 61°C) and unlimited availability,
• better environmental protection properties,
• the radiofluoro-destannylation reaction can be carried out at temperatures above freezing-point

The results of our investigations indicate the possibility to substitute Freon 11 with CDCl3 stabilised with silver.