Synthesis and evaluation of 18F-fluoroethylated benzothiazole derivatives for in vivo imaging of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease

Amyloid aggregates play a major role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Targeting these aggregates by PET probes enables non-invasively the detection and quantification of amyloid deposit distribution in human brains. Based on benzothiazole core structure a series of amyloid imaging agents were developed. Currently [11C]2-(4′-(methylamino)phenyl)-6-hydroxybenzothiazole (Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB) is the most specific and widely used amyloid imaging ligand. But due to the short half life of 11C, longer lived 18F-labeled derivatives offer logistic advantages and higher contrast images. In this work, three different [18F]fluoroethoxy-substituted benzothiazole derivatives ([18F]2-(4′-(methylamino)phenyl)-6-(2-fluoroethoxy)benzothiazole, [18F]2-((2′-(2-fluoroethoxy)-4′-amino)phenyl)benzothiazole and [18F]2-(3′-((2-fluoroethoxy)-4′-amino)phenyl)benzothiazole) were synthesized via [18F]fluoroethylation. The latter two derivatives with fluoroethoxy-substitution on the aromatic amino group showed very low binding affinity for amyloid aggregates. In contrast [18F]2-(4′-(methylamino)phenyl)-6-(2-fluoroethoxy)benzothiazole with [18F]fluoroethoxy-substitution in 6-position showed excellent amyloid imaging properties with respect to lipophilicity, brain entry and brain clearance in normal SCID mice, amyloid plaque binding affinity and specificity.