Application of polymer supported catalysts to the tritiation of organic compounds.

As more active pharmacological agents are discovered, the study of their absorption, distribution and metabolism is made more difficult by the resulting lower dosage levels. The role of radioactive isotopes is central to this work, consequently great effort has been made towards the discovery of routes to molecules labelled with radioactive isotopes. The work discussed in this thesis represents the first application of polymer supported catalysis in the tritiation of organic molecules. Where appropriate, 3H NMR spectroscopy was used to delineate labelling patterns, which in turn allow mechanistic inferences to be made. The scope of the method has been extensively examined, and advantages of the polymer supported heterogeneous system, such as the ease of catalyst separation and the possibility of obtaining unique selectivity, are highlighted