Direct Incorporation of [C]CO into Asymmetric [C]Carbonates.

A novel carbon-11 radiolabelling methodology for the synthesis of the dialkylcarbonate functional group has been developed. The method uses cyclotron-produced short-lived [C]CO (half-life 20.4 min) directly from the cyclotron target in a one-pot synthesis. Alcohol in the presence of base trapped [C]CO efficiently forming an [C]alkylcarbonate intermediate that subsequently reacted with an alkylchloride producing the di-substituted [C]carbonate (34% radiochemical yield, determined by radio-HPLC) in 5 minutes from the end of [C]CO cyclotron delivery.