Synthesis and quality control of ¹⁸F-fluoromethyl choline

Objective: To research the automation synthesis and quality control of [¹⁸F] fluo-romethyl choline (¹⁸F-FCH) by automatic synthesis module from Japanese sumitomo corporation. Methods: Intermediate product ¹⁸FCH₂Br was produced by the reaction of CH₂Br₂ with ¹⁸F^- which was made by sumitomo cyclotron. ¹⁸FC₂H₄SO₃CF₃ with a higher activity was generated by modifying the activities of ¹⁸FCH₂Br through the Ag-Triflate/C column at high temperature. ¹⁸FC₂H₄SO₃CF₃ reacted with N, N-dimethyl ethanolamine on Sep-Pak C-18 column at room temperature and the products were purified through wash-ing the Sep-Pak C-18 column and Sep-Pak CM column in series with alcohol, water and physiological saline injector respectively. The purity of the final products was detected by high performance liquid chromatography. Results: The radiochemical purity of ¹⁸F-FCH was above 97%, the uncorrected radiochemical yield was 27%, and the synthesis process last for 38 min. Conclusion: This synthesis method has more advantages, such as easier operation, higher yields, shorter synthesis time, more stable products with a higher radiochemical purity. (authors)