Bismuth-213 Separation

The nuclides ²¹²Bi and ²¹³Bi have garnered interest for targeted alpha therapy of various diseases. ²¹²Bi may be separated from a generator of ²²⁴Ra loaded onto strong acid cation exchange, in a manner similar to ²¹²Pb[1]. ²¹³Bi may be produced in 0.1M HCl-0.1M NaI using a generator of ²²⁵Ac adsorbed onto strong acid cation exchange resin.

Additionally, a multicolumn method for ²¹³Bi has been developed, where 225Ac is stored in 0.1M HCl[2,3]. ²¹³Bi is selectively retained on UTEVA resin, while ²²⁵Ac passes through and is collected for further ingrowth and subsequent ²¹³Bi separations. Stripping the ²¹³Bi with a 0.75M NaCl-0.50M Sodium acetate buffer at pH 4.0 through a guard column of strong acid cation exchange resin and polymeric resin to scavenge organic material produces a high purity ²¹³Bi in a medium that is appropriate for labeling biolocalization agents. The ²¹³Bi generators were developed for use with high purity ²²⁵Ac obtained from ²²⁹Th decay. However, additional work is being performed to update the generators for use with ²²⁵Ac produced from proton spallation of ²³²Th, which contains ²²⁷Ac as an impurity.

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References

[1] Atcher, R.W., Friedman, A.M., Hines, J.J. 1988 An improved generator for the production of 212Pb, 212Bi and 224Ra, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 39(4), 283-286.

[2] McAlister, D.R., and Horwitz, E.P. 2009. “Automated two column generator systems for medical radionuclides,” Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 67, 1985-1991.

[3] Bond, A.H., Horwitz, E.P., 2005. Production of ultra-pure bismuth-213 for use in therapeutic nuclear medicine, U. S. Patent No. 6,852,296.