No-carrier-added asymmetric synthesis of alpha-methyl-alpha-amino acids labelled with fluorine-18

Various [18F]fluoro aromatic α-methyl-L-amino acids 11 have been synthesized with high enantiomeric purity (ee > 97%). These new radiopharmaceuticals for Positron Emission Tomography (PET), potential inhibitors of enzymatic functions, were regiospecifically labelled by nucleophilic substitution on trimethylammoniumbenzaldehyde triflate precursors 9. The [18F]fluoro aromatic aldehydes 12 obtained were easily converted to the corresponding [18F]fluorobenzyl halides [13 (X = 1)]. After alkylation of the lithium enolate of (2S,5S)-l-tert-Boc-2-tert-butyl-3,5-dimethyl-imidazolidin-4-one 2, the adducts were cleaved to give, after HPLC purification, various [18F]fluoro-α-methyl amino acid analogs with radiochemical yields of 10% (End of Bombardment, EOB) after a synthesis time of 120 min. The corresponding [19F]fluorinated amino acids 4 and [19F]fluoro intermediates were also prepared.