Fluorinated steroids and their derivatives

• Synthetic methods for the fluorination of steroids.
• Fluorinated corticosteroids.
• Radiofluorinated steroids with binding to the estrogen or progesterone receptor as PET (positron emission tomography) imaging agents.

Fluorinated steroids have found entry into the list of important pharmaceuticals. Fluorinated corticosteroids are being used as topical drugs against rheumatism and inflammatory skin diseases or as inhalation drugs again asthma. A number of fluorinated steroids bind strongly to the estrogen or the progesterone receptor. With the availability of [18F]fluorine as a radiolabel, radiofluorinated steroids are being developed as potential positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents. This article presents an overview of preparative methods to fluorinated steroids as well as of the uses of these compounds.

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