Sultone opening with [18F]fluoride: an efficient 18F-labelling strategy for PET imaging.

Sultones were subject to ring opening by nucleophilic attack with [(18)F]fluoride to afford easily purified (18)F-labelled hydrophilic sulfonated products in high yields. A two-step sequence including radiofluorination and coupling to lysine was then developed from a bis-sultone precursor as a model approach for the labelling of biopolymers.