Part I: First Principles -- Why Nuclear Imaging and Radiotherapy -- Overview of Nuclear Imaging with Small Molecules -- Overview of Nuclear Imaging with Peptides and Proteins -- Overview of Nuclear Imaging with Antibodies -- Overview of Nuclear Imaging with Nanoparticles -- Overview of Targeted Radiotherapy -- The Production of Radioisotopes -- The Physics of Nuclear Imaging -- The Physics of Targeted Radiotherapy -- Part II: Radiochemistry -- 11C -- 68Ga and 67Ga -- 18F Part 1: Nucleophilic Fluorinations -- 18F Part 2: Electrophilic Fluorinations -- 18F Part 3: Fluorination Using Prosthetic Groups -- 18F Part 4: Next Generation Fluorination Methods -- 99mTc -- 186Re and 188Re -- The isotopes of Cu -- The isotopes of Y -- 111In and 177Lu -- 89Zr -- The isotopes of iodine -- The chemistry of alpha-emitting isotopes -- The best of the rest: the chemistry of emerging isotopes -- Part III: Special Topics -- Bioconjugation Methods -- Click Chemistry in Radiochemistry -- Cerenkov Imaging -- Imaging Instrumentation for Radiochemists -- Medical Physics for Radiochemists -- Radiation Safety for Radiochemists -- The Clinical Translation Process in the U.S. -- The Clinical Translation Process in Europe -- Choosing a Target for Nuclear Imaging or Radiotherapy.

This book is a comprehensive guide to radiopharmaceutical chemistry. The stunning clinical successes of nuclear imaging and targeted radiotherapy have resulted in rapid growth in the field of radiopharmaceutical chemistry, an essential component of nuclear medicine and radiology. However, at this point, interest in the field outpaces the academic and educational infrastructure needed to train radiopharmaceutical chemists. For example, the vast majority of texts that address radiopharmaceutical chemistry do so only peripherally, focusing instead on nuclear chemistry (i.e. nuclear reactions in reactors), heavy element radiochemistry (i.e. the decomposition of radioactive waste), or solely on the clinical applications of radiopharmaceuticals (e.g. the use of PET tracers in oncology). This text fills that gap by focusing on the chemistry of radiopharmaceuticals, with key coverage of how that knowledge translates to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for the clinic. The text is divided into three overarching sections: First Principles, Radiochemistry, and Special Topics. The first is a general overview covering fundamental and broad issues like “The Production of Radionuclides” and “Basics of Radiochemistry”. The second section is the main focus of the book. In this section, each chapter’s author will delve much deeper into the subject matter, covering both well established and state-of-the-art techniques in radiopharmaceutical chemistry. This section will be divided according to radionuclide and will include chapters on radiolabeling methods using all of the common nuclides employed in radiopharmaceuticals, including four chapters on the ubiquitously used fluorine-18 and a “Best of the Rest” chapter to cover emerging radionuclides. Finally, the third section of the book is dedicated to special topics with important information for radiochemists, including “Bioconjugation Methods,” “Click Chemistry in Radiochemistry”, and “Radiochemical Instrumentation.” This is an ideal educational guide for nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists, and radiopharmaceutical chemists, as well as residents and trainees in all of these areas.