Preparation of carrier-free copper-64,67 nuclides by liquid-liquid extraction

A simple procedure is described for the preparation of carrier-free copper-64,67 nuclides from a zinc target exposed to fast neutrons. The irradiated target is dissolved in water, and thepH of the solution is adjusted to about six. Radioactive copper nuclides are then extracted with a 1% solution of resacetophenone oxime in cyclohexanone. Zinc is not extracted under these conditions. Radiocopper is back-extracted by shaking the organic phase with dilute mineral acid. About 5 mCi of carrier-free⁶⁴Cu can be obtained from 1 g of zinc.