Herein we report an efficient radiolabeling of a 18F‐fluorinated derivative of dual inhibitor GW2580, with its subsequent evaluation as a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer candidate for imaging of two neuroreceptor targets implicated in the pathophysiology of neurodegeneration: tropomyosin receptor kinases (TrkB/C) and colony stimulating factor receptor (CSF‐1R). [18F]FOMPyD was synthesized from a boronic acid pinacolate precursor via copper‐mediated 18F‐fluorination concerted with thermal deprotection of the four Boc groups on a diaminopyrimidine moiety in an 8.7±2.8% radiochemical yield, a radiochemical purity >99%, and an effective molar activity of 187±93 GBq/μmol. [18F]FOMPyD showed moderate brain permeability in wild‐type rats (SUVmax = 0.75) and a slow washout rate. The brain uptake was partially reduced (ΔAUC40–90 = 11.6%) by administration of the nonradioactive FOMPyD (up to 30 μg/kg). In autoradiography, [18F]FOMPyD exhibits ubiquitous distribution in rat and human brain tissues with relatively high nonspecific binding revealed by self‐blocking experiment. The binding was blocked by TrkB/C inhibitors, but not with a CSF‐1R inhibitor, suggesting selective binding to the former receptor. Although an unfavorable pharmacokinetic profile will likely preclude application of [18F]FOMPyD as a PET tracer for brain imaging, the concomitant one‐pot copper‐mediated 18F‐fluorination/Boc‐deprotection is a practical technique for the automated radiosynthesis of acid‐sensitive PET tracers.

Melatonin is a neurohormone that modulates several physiological functions in mammals through the activation of melatonin receptor type 1 and 2 (MT1 and MT2). The melatonergic system is an emerging therapeutic target for new pharmacological interventions in the treatment of sleep and mood disorders; thus, imaging tools to further investigate its role in the brain are highly sought-after. We aimed to develop selective radiotracers for in vivo imaging of both MT1 and MT2 by positron emission tomography (PET). We identified four previously reported MT ligands with picomolar affinities to the target based on different scaffolds which were also amenable for radiolabeling with either carbon-11 or fluorine-18. [11C]­UCM765, [11C]­UCM1014, [18F]­3-fluoroagomelatine ([18F]­3FAGM), and [18F]­fluoroacetamidoagomelatine ([18F]­FAAGM) have been synthesized in high radiochemical purity and evaluated in wild-type rats. All four tracers showed moderate to high brain permeability in rats with maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax of 2.53, 1.75, 3.25, and 4.47, respectively) achieved 1–2 min after tracer administration, followed by a rapid washout from the brain. Several melatonin ligands failed to block the binding of any of the PET tracer candidates, while in some cases, homologous blocking surprisingly resulted in increased brain retention. Two 18F-labeled agomelatine derivatives were brought forward to PET scans in non-human primates and autoradiography on human brain tissues. No specific binding has been detected in blocking studies. To further investigate pharmacokinetic properties of the putative tracers, microsomal stability, plasma protein binding, log D, and membrane bidirectional permeability assays have been conducted. Based on the results, we conclude that the fast first pass metabolism by the enzymes in liver microsomes is the likely reason of the failure of our PET tracer candidates. Nevertheless, we showed that PET imaging can serve as a valuable tool to investigate the brain permeability of new therapeutic compounds targeting the melatonergic system.

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