Analysis of metal radioisotope impurities generated in [(18)O]H(2)O during the cyclotron production of fluorine-18.

Abstract

We show the separation of metal radioisotope impurities using capillary electrophoresis (CE). The methodology used is an improvement of existent protocols for separation of stable metal ions. Production of fluorine-18 using [(18)O]H(2)O-enriched water encased in a titanium target body results in the production of several metal radioisotope impurities. Optimisation of the conditions for CE separation of the metal radioisotope impurities incorporated the use of 6 mM 18-Crown-6 in combination with 12 mM glycolic acid as complexing agents within the running buffer (10 mM pyridine, pH 4.0). Using this optimised procedure, we were able to separate and detect a number of metal radioisotopes, including chromium, cobalt, manganese, vanadium and berillium, within the fM concentration range.