New high yield Cu(I) assisted 123I radioiodination of 15(p-I-phenyl)-9-methyl pentadecanoic acid, a potential myocardial tracer.

A new high yield 123I radioiodination (97%), based on the Cu(I) assisted isotopic exchange in an ethanol water mixture, of 15(p-I-phenyl)-9 methyl pentadecanoic acid, a potential myocardial tracer, is proposed. The method allows a true kit preparation of radioiodinated phenyl fatty acids for a substrate concentration of +/- 10(-6) moles. High specific activities (greater than 0.1 mCi/micrograms) can be obtained when coupling the labelling method to HPLC purification with an overall radiochemical yield of 75%.