CHAPTER 8: Chelators for Diagnostic Molecular Imaging with Radioisotopes of Copper, Gallium and Zirconium Check Access

The radiometallic isotopes ⁶⁴Cu, ⁶⁸Ga and ⁸⁹Zr have immense utility in molecular PET imaging. The ability to prepare clinically useful ⁶⁴Cu, ⁶⁸Ga and ⁸⁹Zr radiopharmaceuticals is contingent on efficient chelators that enable access to simple radiolabelling methodologies, as well as providing metal complexes that are highly stable in vivo. This review highlights how the different design requirements for ⁶⁴Cu²⁺, ⁶⁸Ga³⁺ and ⁸⁹Zr⁴⁺ chelators are dictated by not only each specific metal ion’s coordination preferences, but also the radionuclide’s half-life, the biomolecular vehicle to which the complex is attached, and the molecular process being targeted.