A kit-based aluminium-[F-18]fluoride approach to radiolabelled microbubbles

The production of 18F-labelled microbubbles (MBs) via the aluminium-[18F]fluoride ([18F]AlF) radiolabelling method and facile inverse-electron-demand Diels–Alder (IEDDA) ‘click’ chemistry is reported. An [18F]AlF-NODA-labelled tetrazine was synthesised in excellent radiochemical yield (>95% RCY) and efficiently conjugated to a trans-cyclooctene (TCO) functionalised phospholipid (40–50% RCY), which was incorporated into MBs (40–50% RCY). To demonstrate the potential of producing 18F-labelled MBs for clinical studies, we also describe a kit-based approach which is amenable for use in a hospital radiopharmacy setting