Chemical synthesis is a critical hurdle in the development of new imaging probes and is integral to progress made by the Imaging Institute across all modalities: magnetic resonance contrast agents (T1 & T2 agents), PET & SPECT agents, optical dyes, as well as other molecular imaging probes. For VUIIS to continue toward its goal of becoming a leading imaging institute, many novel molecular imaging probes will need to be developed, and we will need the capacity to synthesize molecules already described throughout the literature. We hope to be able to develop new probes through collaborations that would contribute not only to the institute, but also to other groups on the Vanderbilt campus as well.

To that end, this new "think-tank" will focus on the development and future prospects of molecular imaging probes from a synthetic chemist's standpoint. While we will review current literature pertinent to molecular imaging probes, literature review discussions will not be our only activity. Any persons interested in the design of imaging probes or chemical methods employed to prepare such molecules are welcome to attend.

We intend for this group to meet on the last Tuesday of each month. The meeting will be run much like a journal club but will have a designated time for the attendees to discuss and propose either new chemical targets or problems and shortfalls associated with the design and/or synthesis of current targets. The first 15-20 minutes of the meeting will be used to troubleshoot problems and discuss synthesis issues, followed by journal discussions or proposals for 40-45 minutes.

Please contact Don Nolting (don.nolting@vanderbilt.edu) or Mike Nickels (michael.l.nickels@vanderbilt.edu) if you are interested so we may assemble a tentative list of interested parties. The first meeting will take place in January. Please see the schedule below for a list of topics, presenters and links to papers for discussion as well as relevant review articles.

• Inkster JAH, Guérin B, Ruth TJ, Adam MJ. Radiosynthesis and bioconjugation of [¹⁸F]FPy5yne, a prosthetic group for the ¹⁸F labeling of bioactive peptides. J Label Compd Radiopharm 2008;51:444-52.
• Kuhnast B, Hinnen F, Tavitian B, Dollé F. [¹⁸F]FPyKYNE, a fluoropyridine-based alkyne reagent designed for the fluorine-18 labelling of macromolecules using click chemistry. J Label Compd Radiopharm 2008;51:336-42.

• Bannwarth M, Correa IR, Sztretye M, Pouvreau S, Fellay C, Aebischer A, Royer L, Rios E, Johnsson K. Indo-1 derivatives for local calcium sensing. ACS Chem Biol 2009;4(3):179-190.
• Dhingra K, Fouskova P, Angelovski G, Maier M, Logothetis N, Toth E. Towards extracellular Ca ²⁺ sensing by MRI: synthesis and calcium-dependent ¹H and ¹⁷O relaxation studies of two novel bismacrocyclic Gd³⁺ complexes. J Biol Inorg Chem 2008;13:35-46.

• Jonkheijm P, Weinrich D, Schröder H, Niemeyer CM, Waldmann H. Chemical strategies for generating protein biochips. Angew Chem Int Ed 2008;47:9618-47.

• Resin Seminar: The Use and Application of Solid Supported Reagents and Scavengers (Abstract)

• Sun H, DiMagno SG. Room-temperature nucleophilic aromatic fluorination: experimental and theoretical studies. Angew Chem Int Ed 2006;45:2720-5.

• Phagocytes and Phagocytosis: A New Discovery of Phagocytic B Cells in Teleost Fish (Abstract)

• Lectin-immobilized fluorescent nanospheres as a novel colonoscopic imaging agent for the early detection of small-sized colorectal cancer (Abstract)