Theranostic mercury part 1: A new Hg/Au separation by a resin based method

The production and separation of no-carrier-added 197(m)Hg for imaging and therapy research based on the 197Au(p,n)197(m)Hg reaction was recently reported. However, large-scale production requires the development of a rapid, reliable method for Hg/Au separation. Ideally, a solid phase sorbent is used to bind at least one of the two metal ions reversibly, allowing for the product elution into a small volume. Di(2-ethylhexyl)orthophosphoric acid (HDEHP) im-pregnated onto an inert support as the so called LN resin (LaNthanides) was examined for this application.