Hydrolytically stable titanium-45

Introduction Titanium-45, a candidate PET isotope, is under-employed largely because of the challenging aqueous chemistry of Ti(IV). The propensity for hydrolysis of Ti(IV) compounds makes radio-labeling difficult and excludes 45Ti from use in bio-conjugate chemistry. This is unfortunate because the physical characteristics are extremely desirable: 45Ti has a 3 hour half-life, a positron branching ratio of 85 %, a low Eβmax of 1.04 MeV, and negligible secondary gamma emission.

In terms of isotope production, 45Ti is transmuted from naturally mono-isotopic 45Sc by low energy proton irradiation. The high cross-section and production rates on an unenriched metal foil target contribute to make 45Ti an ideal PET radionuclide. In order to bring 45Ti to even a preclinical plat-form, the hydrolytic instability of aqueous Ti(IV) needs to be addressed.

Recently, the groups of Edit Tshuva (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Thomas Huhn (University of Konstanz) have synthesized several stable Ti(IV) compounds based upon the salan ligand [1,2]. Additionally, these compounds have shown heightened cyto-toxicity against HT-29 (human colorectal cancer) cells, amongst others, as compared to traditional metal-based chemotherapeutics such as cisplatin.

The aim of our work has been to produce the radioactive analogue of one of these Ti(IV)-salan compounds, Ti-salan-dipic [2], which has hydro-lytic stability on the order of weeks. Not only will this allow us to shed some light on the still un-known mechanism of antiproliferative action of titanium-based chemotherapeutics, but it will also make progress toward bioconjugate 45Ti PET tracers.

In the current abstract, we present some of the methods we are using to separate 45Ti from irradiated Sc, and subsequent labeling conditions. Material and Methods 45Ti was produced by proton irradiation of 250μm scandium foils at currents ranging from 10-20μA on a GE PETTrace. In order to increase production rate in the thin foil, an 800μm aluminum degrader was used to take the proton energy down from the nominal 16 MeV.

The scandium was cooled by contact to a water-cooled silver plate. The activated foil was dissolved in 4M HCl, dried under argon at 120 oC, and taken back up in 12M HCl. Here, four (i-iv below) different approaches to removing the Ti from the Sc and labeling were taken with varying success. Briefly: i. 45Ti was separated on hydroxamate resin, as presented by K.

Gagnon [3], only at 12M acid concentration followed by on-column radiolabeling. ii. 45Ti was extracted into 1-octanol [4], stripped with 12M HCl, and used directly for labeling from the organic phase. iii. 45Ti was trapped on a C-18 cartridge that had been pre-loaded with 1-octanol, similar to ion-pairing, and eluted with isopropanol. iv. 45Ti was extracted onto a polystyrene based 1,3 diol resin (RAPP polymers) and labeling commenced on the column.

Radiolabeling was slightly different in each condition, but in general the salan and dipic ligands were added to the 45Ti in pyridine and reacted at elevated temperature (60–100 oC) for several (10–30) minutes. Reaction progression and radiochemical purity were assessed with silica TLC in chloroform : ethyl acetate (1 : 1).

Results and Conclusion The trap, release, and yields for the four methods listed above are shown in TABLE 1. The best result was with the 1,3 diol resin which had the added advantage of reacting on-column. Further optimization is underway including a test of a solid supported 1,2 diol, and preclinical imaging with HT-29 xenografts.

We conclude that hydrolytically stable 45Ti com-pounds can be synthesized in high yield, and hope that this advances the radiochemistry and use of 45Ti toward more widespread applications.