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Fluorine appears in many drugs, and radioactive fluorine-18 labels a glucose analog used to study metabolism.
| Symbol | F |
|---|---|
| Atomic number | 9 |
| Standard atomic weight | 18.99840316 |
| Group | 17 |
| Period | 2 |
| Block | p-block |
| Category | Halogen |
| Standard state | Gas |
| Discovered | 1670 |
Source: PubChem, Fluorine (periodic table data, retrieved 2026-10-19). Group and period follow the standard 18-column periodic table.
Purser and colleagues reviewed well-known fluorinated drugs, how they work, and how swapping in fluorine affects drug potency.
As reported in: Purser, Moore, Swallow et al. (2008). Fluorine in medicinal chemistry. Chem. Soc. Rev.. doi:10.1039/b610213c
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Ido and colleagues described a synthesis of fluorine-18-labelled 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose, a labelled glucose analog needed for studying local glucose metabolism in the brain.
As reported in: Ido, Wan, Casella et al. (1978). Labeled 2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose analogs. 18 F‐labeled 2‐deoxy‐2‐fluoro‐D‐glucose, 2‐deoxy‐2‐fluoro‐D‐mannose and 14 C‐2‐deoxy‐2‐fluoro‐D‐glucose. Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals. doi:10.1002/jlcr.2580140204
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Found by name, common compounds and chemical formulas in each entry.
Search Google Patents for fluorine in biological and medical uses: all patents · recent applications (2022+)
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