Abstract
Modern nuclear medical imaging is dependent on the development of pharmaceuticals targeted to various disease sites in the body. To be useful in imaging modalities such as positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission tomography (SPECT), the pharmaceuticals must be labeled with short-lived radionuclides (to minimize radiation exposure to the patient.) The preparation of successful “radiopharmaceutical” agents presents a formidable challenge to synthetic chemists.
The presentation will focus on newly developed methods for constructing physiologically active molecules and reaction sequences used to incorporate short-lived isotopes. The discussion will include an overview of modern nuclear medicine imaging techniques such as PET and SPECT and highlight an number of promising new radiopharmaceuticals.
