Synthesis of C-11 and F-18 labelled compounds for biomedical applications: Current status and challenges for the future

The synthesis of¹¹C and¹⁸F labelled compounds for biomedical applications is a rapidly growing field with applications in Neurology, Cardiology, Oncology and the study of human biochemistry and physiology. Literally hundreds of compounds have been labelled but only a few have made their way into human studies with the bulk being used in animal studies. This review focuses on the production of these isotopes, the chemistry of labelling radiopharmaceuticals with these isotopes, automated chemistry and finally future considerations and applications for both¹¹C and¹⁸F.