The 2-[(3-carboxy-1-oxopropyl)amino]-2-deoxy-D-glucose (CPADG) was synthesized and radiolabeled with (99m)TcO4(-) to obtain the (99m)Tc-CPADG complex in high yield. It was stable over 6 h in saline at room temperature and in serum at 37 °C. The partition coefficient and electrophoresis results indicated that the complex was hydrophilic and cationic. In vitro cell studies showed there was an increase in the uptake of (99m)Tc-CPADG as a function of incubation time and (99m)Tc-CPADG was possibly transported via the glucose transporters. The biodistribution of (99m)Tc-CPADG in mice bearing S 180 tumor showed that the complex accumulated in the tumor with high uptake and good retention. The tumor/blood and tumor/muscle ratios increased with time and reached 1.91 and 5.05 at 4h post-injection. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) image studies showed there was an obvious accumulation in tumor sites, suggesting (99m)Tc-CPADG would be a promising candidate for tumor imaging.