Radiosynthesis of 2-[6-chloro-2-(4-iodophenyl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl]-N-ethyl-N-[11C]methyl-acetamide, [11C]CLINME,a novel radioligand for imaging the peripheral benzodiazepine receptors with PET

Recently, a new 2-(iodophenyl)imidazo1,2-a]pyridineacetamide series has been developed as iodine-123-labelled radioligands for imaging the peripheral benzodiazepine receptors using single photon emission tomography. Within this series, 2-6-chloro-2-(4-iodophenyl)-imidazo1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl]-N-ethyl-N-methyl-acetamide (CLINME) was considered as an appropriate candidate for positron emission tomography imaging and was isotopically labelled with carbon-11 (T_1/2: 20.38 min) at the methylacetamide side chain from the corresponding nor-analogue using ¹¹C]methyl iodide and the following experimental conditions: (1) trapping at ?10°C of ¹¹C]methyl iodide in a 1/2 (v:v) mixture of DMSO/DMF (300 µl) containing 0.7–1.0 mg of the precursor for labelling and 3–5 mg of powdered potassium hydroxide (excess); (2) heating the reaction mixture at 110°C for 3 min under a nitrogen stream; (3) diluting the residue with 0.6 ml of the HPLC mobile phase; and (4) purification using semi-preparative HPLC (Zorbax^® SB18, Hewlett Packard, 250 × 9.4 mm). Typically, starting from a 1.5 Ci (55.5 GBq) ¹¹C]CO₂ production batch, 120?150 mCi (4.44–5.55 GBq) of ¹¹C]CLINME were obtained (16–23% decay-corrected radiochemical yield, n=12) within a total synthesis time of 24–27 min (Sep-pak^®Plus-based formulation included). Specific radioactivities ranged from 0.9 to 2.7 Ci/µmol (33.3–99.9 GBq/µmol) at the end of radiosynthesis. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.