The synthesis of 1-11C-labelled ethyl, propyl, butyl and isobutyl iodides and examples of alkylation reactions

New 11C-labelled precursors [1-11C]ethyl,[1-11C]propyl, [1-11C]butyl, and [1-11C]isobutyl iodides have been prepared by a 3-step reaction route using a one-pot system. The labelled iodides were obtained in 20-55#percent# radiochemical yields and 65-95#percent# radiochemical purities, with a total time for synthesis of the order of 10-14 min. The labelled iodides have been used in alkylation reactions with nitrogen, oxygen and carbon nucleophiles. The nitrogen alkylation reactions are exemplified by the synthesis of the analgetics N-[1-11C-ethyl]iodocaine and N-[1-11C-butyl] bupivacaine. The synthesis of 3-nitrophenyl[1-11C]propyl ether is also presented in this paper as an example of an oxygen alkylation. (author)