Research Themes
1. Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry
18F-Poly/perfluorination
A wide array of fluorinated functional groups are utilised in medicinal chemistry to fine-tune the properties of small molecule pharmaceuticals. In contrast, the radiochemical synthesis of radiopharmacuticals containing these poly- or perfluorinated motifs are challenging to access with fluorine-18. This is in part due to the stoichometry of these reactions where only nano or picomolar quantities of fluorine-18 is produced by a cyclotron, and the need to develop new chemistry using partially fluorinated functional groups. Our aims are to develop innovative chemistry to address these limitations and expand the radiochemical space for the development of precision 18F-radiopharmaceuticals.
Selected publications:
"Radiochemical synthesis of alkyl geminal 18F-difluoroalkyl motifs mediated by silver (I) oxide" Org. Lett. 2025, 27, 1724.
“18F-Difluoromethyl(ene) motifs via oxidative fluorodecarboxylation with [18F]fluoride” Org. Lett. 2024, 26, 9368.
“[18F]Difluorocarbene for positron emission tomography” Nature. 2022. 606, 102.
“Synthesis and derivatization of 1,1-[18F]difluorinated alkenes” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 472.
18F-Reaction development
Methods for rapid and selective incorporation of fluorine-18 are essential to advance the field of 18F-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging where radiochemical synthesis of these imaging agents has traditionally been a critical bottleneck. The relatively short half-life of fluorine-18 (110 minutes) and the requirement of specialist laboratories makes the translation from 19F-chemistry to 18F-radiochemistry non-trivial. Our interests are in exploring new chemical methods for the incorporation of [18F]fluoride into small molecules and biomolecules to directly address these challenges and provide radiochemists with new synthetic methods for radiotracer synthesis.
Selected publications:
“Ethyl pinacol boronates as advantageous precursors for copper-mediated radiofluorination” Org. Lett. 2025, 27, 6545.
“Expedient access to 18F-fluoroheteroarenes via deaminative radiofluorination of aniline-derived pyridinium salts” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202404945.
“Photoredox nucleophilic (radio)fluorination of alkoxyamines” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 11599.
“A general copper-mediated nucleophilic 18F-fluorination of arenes” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 7751.
Automation and clinical translation
Automation of radiochemical processes helps to achieve the principles of good manufacturing practices (GMP) that are essential in demonstrating that a radiopharmaceutical is fit for its intended clinical application and so a key step in the development of a new method if it is to have an impact in the clinic. The use of automated synthesisers increase reproducibility and reliability when producing radiotracers while also minimising the radiation exposure to workers. The use of cassette-based systems that are pre-loaded with chemical precursors and solvents has further simplified radiotracer synthesis but requires chemical transformations that are suitably robust and reliable. Our goal is establish our discoveries in 18F-radiochemistry on automated synthesis units to enable use to produce GMP-validatable protocols so maximise the impact in PET imaging and ultimately patient health.
Selected publications:
“The synthesis of [18F]SynVesT-1 and [18F]SynVesT-2 from enantioenriched boronic esters” Chem. Commun. 2025, 61, 17689.
“Multi-patient dose synthesis of [18F]Flumazenil via a copper-mediated 18F-fluorination” EJNMMI Radiopharm. Chem. 2022, 7, 5.