PET Chemistry : The Driving Force in Molecular Imaging

Molecular imaging (MI) is based on the selective and specific interaction of a molecular probe with a biological target which is visualized through nuclear, magnetic resonance, near infrared or other methods. Therefore it is the method of choice for patient selection and therapy monitoring as well as for specific e- point monitoring in modern drug development. PET (positron emitting tomography), a nuclear medical imaging modality, is ideally suited to produce three-dimensional images of various targets or processes. The rapidly increasing demand for highly selective probes for MI strongly pushes the development of new PET tracers and PET chemistry. ‘PET chemistry’ can be de?ned as the study of positron-emitting compounds regarding their synthesis, structure, composition, reactivity, nuclear properties and processes and their properties in natural and - natural environments.