19F MRI has been emerging as promising whole-body imaging technique complementary to 1H MRI. In fact, 19F has 100% natural abundance, a gyromagnetic ratio very close to that of the proton and 83% sensitivity of 1H. Moreover, in the human body there are only low amounts of inorganic fluorine in bones and teeth, which are not detectable by 19F MRI due to their low T2. Thus, the only in vivo detectable fluorine comes from exogenous tracers that can be clearly imaged and quantified by 19F MRI. However, the intrinsically low sensitivity of MRI has prompted efforts to develop effective 19F MRI tracers. An ideal 19F MRI tracer should have a high number of equivalent 19F atoms to yield a single sharp resonance signal [1]. In this sense, the first molecules used as 19F MRI tracers were perfluorocarbons (PFC) containing a high number of nonequivalent 19F atoms, such as perfluoro-octyl-bromide (PFOB), perfluorodecaline (PFD) and perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA). Later, PFC bearing many equivalent 19F atoms, such as perfluoro-15-crown ether (PFCE), and blends of perfluoropolyethers (PFPE) containing a huge number of 19F atoms (pseudoequivalent), were also proposed as more sensitive 19F MRI tracers [2, 3] (see Fig. 3.1). Despite PFC being widely used as 19F MRI agents, they were not specifically designed for this function, and thus, it should be possible to produce tailored polyfluorinated molecules for sensitive19F MRI.
Multibranched superfluorinated molecular probes for 19F MRI
Chirizzi C.;Dichiarante V.;Metrangolo P.;Baldelli Bombelli F.
2024-01-01
Abstract
19F MRI has been emerging as promising whole-body imaging technique complementary to 1H MRI. In fact, 19F has 100% natural abundance, a gyromagnetic ratio very close to that of the proton and 83% sensitivity of 1H. Moreover, in the human body there are only low amounts of inorganic fluorine in bones and teeth, which are not detectable by 19F MRI due to their low T2. Thus, the only in vivo detectable fluorine comes from exogenous tracers that can be clearly imaged and quantified by 19F MRI. However, the intrinsically low sensitivity of MRI has prompted efforts to develop effective 19F MRI tracers. An ideal 19F MRI tracer should have a high number of equivalent 19F atoms to yield a single sharp resonance signal [1]. In this sense, the first molecules used as 19F MRI tracers were perfluorocarbons (PFC) containing a high number of nonequivalent 19F atoms, such as perfluoro-octyl-bromide (PFOB), perfluorodecaline (PFD) and perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA). Later, PFC bearing many equivalent 19F atoms, such as perfluoro-15-crown ether (PFCE), and blends of perfluoropolyethers (PFPE) containing a huge number of 19F atoms (pseudoequivalent), were also proposed as more sensitive 19F MRI tracers [2, 3] (see Fig. 3.1). Despite PFC being widely used as 19F MRI agents, they were not specifically designed for this function, and thus, it should be possible to produce tailored polyfluorinated molecules for sensitive19F MRI.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.