The present work concerns the production of 1,2-dihydroxypropyl-1-phosphonic acid (diol) by acid hydrolysis of (-cis) 1,2-epoxypropylphosphonic acid (phosphomycin), and its formulation as a kit easily labeled with [99mTc]pertechnetate. Biodistribution studies and whole-body autoradiographies in mice show that 99mTc-diol has a specific affinity for the kidneys: it is rapidly cleared from the blood and excreted in urine (12.09 +/- 6.40% ID are excreted in urine at 5 min and 70.81 +/- 2.41% ID at 30 min post-injection). Part of the injected activity remains in the kidney cortex sufficiently long to permit kidney imaging (5.66 +/- 0.91% ID is still in kidneys 1 h post-injection). In comparison with other agents which also localize in the kidney cortex, such as 99mTc-DMSA and 99mTc-glucoheptonate (99mTc-GHA), the main differences are the following: the peak of renal activity is reached early in the 5 min post-injection period for 99mTc-diol, only at about 10 min post-injection for 99mTc-GHA and after 3 h post-injection for 99mTc-DMSA. The uptake of 99mTc-diol by other organs, especially by bones, is much smaller than in the case of 99mTc-DMSA (1.25 +/- 0.11% ID of 99mTc-diol compared to 11.31 +/- 1.17% ID of 99mTc-DMSA, 1 h post-injection). Unlike 99mTc-DMSA, the biodistribution of 99mTc-diol is not significantly influenced by acid-base imbalance, in addition, its renal uptake decreases in the presence of probenecid whereas its urinary excretion increases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)