stability of At-radiopharmaceuticals: on the impact of halogen bond formation.

At, when coupled to a targeting agent, is one of the most promising radionuclides for therapeutic applications. The main labelling approach consists in the formation of astatoaryl compounds, which often show a lack of stability. The hypothesis that halogen bond (XB) interactions with protein functional groups initiate a deastatination mechanism is investigated through radiochemical experiments and DFT modelling.