Synthetic methods directed toward a practical radiosynthesis of 6-[C-11]-D-glucose

As part of the authors' interest in the different utilization of 1-[C-11]- and 6-[C-11]-D-glucose, to study the pentose shunt in normal and tumor tissues, they sought a practical radiosynthesis of the 6-[C-11] compound. Earlier efforts resulted in a synthesis with poor radiochemical yield. This paper deals with efforts to improve the synthetic yield through the use of α-alkoxy-organolithium reagents and some unexpected results of this approach