Analysis of metal radioisotope impurities generated in [18O]H2O during the cyclotron production of fluorine-18

We show the separation of metal radioistope impurities using capillary electrophoresis (CE). The methodology used is an improvement of existent protocols for separation of stable metal ions. Production of fluorine-18 using [18O]H2O-enriched water encased in a titanium target body results in the production of several metal radioisotope impurities. Optimisation of the conditions for CE separation of the metal radioisotope impurities incorporated the use of 6 mM 18-Crown-6 in combination with 12 mM glycolic acid as complexing agents within the running buffer (10 mM pyridine, pH 4.0). Using this optimised procedure, we were able to separate and detect a number of metal radioisotopes, including chromium, cobalt, manganese, vanadium and berillium, within the fM concentration range.