Professor Department of Biochemistry, University of Kentucky (7/95-present) Joint appointment Graduate Center for Toxicology, University of Kentucky (7/96-present) Joint appointment Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky (9/97-present) Director Biological NMR Facility, University of Kentucky (7/95-present)

Preparation, NMR Characterization and Labeling Reactions of Tritiated Triacetoxy Sodium Borohydride 

Tritiated NaB3H(OAc)3 was successfully produced from tritiated NaB3H4 by reaction with acetic acid. As tritiated NaB3H4 can be obtained commercially, many tritium labelling chemists can easily adopt our method to prepare tritiated NaB3H(OAc)3 and can utilize its characteristic selectivity to label complex molecules. We have also demonstrated the possibility of producing tritiated NaB3H(OAc)3 and reacting with the substrate in a single vessel starting from NaBH4. Isotope incorporation (both deuterium and tritium) in the final reduction products in our examples were found to be as high as 50% when the reaction started from NaBH4. Although three of the four hydrides (tritides) of the starting NaB3H4 are consumed in its formation, the mildness and selectivity of NaB3H(OAc)3 make it the reagent of choice for the incorporation of tritium via reductive amination with a-b-unsaturated aldehydes. This reagent extends the range of reducing agents available to radiochemist to synthesize and incorporate radioisotopes in increasingly complex structures.