Communications

Production of medical radionuclide ⁴⁴Sc from ⁴⁴Ti by extraction with organophosphorus compounds

N. A. Titchenko^ab, S. V. Ermolaev^b, E. A. Perekina^ab, B. V. Egorova^a, S. N. Kalmykov<sup>ac

a</sup> Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russian Federation
^b Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117312 Moscow, Russian Federation
^c A.N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071 Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract: Extraction systems based on organophosphorus compounds (DEHPA, TBP, and TOPO) in HCl and HNO₃ were studied for developing a reverse ⁴⁴Ti/⁴⁴Sc generator. The 1.8 M TBP–7 M HCl and 0.18 M TOPO–3 M HCl systems demonstrated high separation efficiency in a multistage process and provided ⁴⁴Sc extraction yields of 96.4 and 93.6% with ⁴⁴Ti impurities of 8.5 × 10^–3 and 1.8 ×10^–2%, respectively. The daughter ⁴⁴Sc was quantitatively back-extracted into dilute HCl, providing a ready-to-use solution for subsequent labeling.

Keywords: positron-emission tomography, ⁴⁴Ti/⁴⁴Sc generator, extraction, organophosphorus compounds, TOPO, TBP.

Received: 12.09.2025
Accepted: 01.11.2025

Language: English

DOI: 10.71267/mencom.7916