[18F]Fluorination Optimisation and the Fully Automated Production of [18F]MEL050 Using a Microfluidic System

The [18F]radiolabelling of the melanin-targeting positron-emission tomography radiotracer [18F]MEL050 was rapidly optimised using a commercial continuous-flow microfluidic system. The optimal [18F]fluorination incorporation conditions were then translated to production-scale experiments (35–150 GBq) suitable for preclinical imaging, complete with automated HPLC–solid phase extraction purification and formulation. [18F]MEL050 was obtained in 43 ± 10 % radiochemical yield in ~50 min.