Preparation and stability of ethanol-free solution of [18F]florbetapir ([18F]AV-45) for positron emission tomography amyloid imaging.

We have developed an ethanol-free formulation method of [(18) F]florbetapir ([(1) (8) F]AV-45) using a commercially available automated JFE multi-purpose synthesizer. We have also evaluated the radiochemical stability in an ethanol-free solution of [(18) F]AV-45 under visible light irradiation and dark conditions by comparison with a conventional 10% ethanol solution of [(18) F]AV-45. [(18) F]AV-45 was obtained with a radiochemical yield of 55.1 ± 2.2% (decay-corrected to end of bombardment), specific activity of 591.6 ± 90.3 GBq/µmol and radiochemical purity of >99% within a total synthesis time of about 73 min. The radiochemical purity of [(18) F]AV-45 formulated by dissolving the ethanol-free solution was found to decrease as a function of the period of exposure to visible light. In contrast, the visible light photolysis could be suppressed by adding 10% ethanol to the formulation or by avoiding exposure to visible light. In the radiosynthesis of [(18) F]AV-45 formulated by dissolving the ethanol-free solution, [(18) F]AV-45 could be obtained with high radiochemical purity and high stability by avoiding exposure to visible light.