New approach to fully automated synthesis of sodium [18F]fluoroacetate — a simple and fast method using a commercial synthesizer

A simple, rapid and fully automated preparation of sodium [18F]fluoroacetate has been developed by taking advantage of the similarities between the reaction pathways of [18F]fluoroacetate and [18F]-2-fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG). The automated synthesis of sodium [18F]fluoroacetate was achieved with a commercial [18F]FDG synthesizer, the TRACERlab MXFDG. The method produced the desired compound in a short synthesis time (32 min) and with a high and reproducible radiochemical yield (50.2±4.8%, decay corrected). The radiochemical purity of sodium [18F]fluoroacetate was greater than 99%.