Scientists Discover New Way to Label Chemical Compounds for Medical Imaging

Researchers have found a versatile workaround to create chemical compounds that could prove useful for medical imaging and drug development. While studying chemical reactions of a gold-containing molecule, a research team happened upon a chemical mechanism that can be used to form trifluoromethyl (CF3) compounds and attach them to other chemical compounds. This discovery could aid in the synthesis of new “radiotracers” – chemical compounds that contain a radioactive isotope of an element – for use with PET (positron emission tomography) scanning.