Reactor production of no-carrier-added 199Au for biomedical applications

Abstract

This investigation described development of a technology for the reactor production of no-carrier-added (NCA) ¹⁹⁹Au through neutron activation of natural Pt in a research reactor followed by chemical separation of ¹⁹⁹Au employing liquid–liquid extraction (LLX) technique using ethyl acetate. A thorough optimization of experimental parameters was carried out primarily to arrive at the separation conditions resulting in quantitative extraction of ¹⁹⁹Au into the organic phase. The reported procedure has been found to be prolific in providing ¹⁹⁹Au with >95% yields with acceptable radionuclidic and radiochemical purity. An optimized radiochemical processing procedure for obtaining NCA ¹⁹⁹Au of requisite purity in high yields suitable for clinical use has been the positive outcome.