Friedel–Crafts-Type Electrophilic Radiocyanation of (Hetero)arenes
Radiocyanation is an attractive approach to introduce carbon-11 into radiopharmaceuticals, as nitriles and other acyl moieties. This report describes a Friedel-Crafts-type electrophilic radiocyanation of (hetero)aryltrimethylgermanes and trimethylstannanes as well as a direct C-H radiocyanation of (hetero)arenes. This approach leverages the <i>in situ</i> oxidation of [<sup>11</sup>C]CN<sup>-</sup> to [<sup>11</sup>C]CNCl to enable electrophilic aromatic substitution pathways for accessing relevant <sup>11</sup>C-aryl nitrile scaffolds. This method proceeds in short reaction times with readily available, shelf-stable reagents and enables radiocyanation of diverse substrates in good radiochemical yields.
Authors
- Martie Muller
- Melanie Sarah Sanford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9342-9436)
- Matthias M. Herth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7788-513X)
- Casey J. McCarthy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3967-5705)
- Jay Samuel Wright (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1350-123X)
- Umberto Maria Battisti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1012-8644)
- Richard Ma
- E William Webb
- Peter J H Scott
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Copenhagen University Hospital (DK)
- Rigshospitalet (DK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Organic Letters
- Published
- 2026-02-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.6c00078
- Primary Topic
- Catalytic C–H Functionalization Methods
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institutes of Health