Matthew A. Feldman

NMR Spin-Lock Induced Crossing (SLIC) dispersion and long-lived spin states of gaseous propane at low magnetic field (0.05 T)

When parahydrogen reacts with propylene in low magnetic fields (e.g., 0.05T), the reaction product propane develops an overpopulation of pseudo-singlet nuclear spin states. We studied how the Spin-Lock Induced Crossing (SLIC) technique can be used to convert these pseudo-singlet spin states of hyperpolarized gaseous propane into observable magnetization and to detect 1H NMR signal directly at 0.05T. The theoretical simulation and experimental study of the NMR signal dependence on B1 power (SLIC amplitude) exhibits a well-resolved dispersion, which is induced by the spin-spin couplings in the eight-proton spin system of propane. We also measured the exponential decay time constants (TLLSS or TS) of these pseudo-singlet long-lived spin states (LLSS) by varying the time between hyperpolarized propane production and SLIC detection. We have found that, on average, TS is approximately 3 times longer than the corresponding T1 value under the same conditions in the range of pressures studied (up to 7.6atm). Moreover, TS may exceed 13s at pressures above 7atm in the gas phase. These results are in agreement with the previous reports, and they corroborate a great potential of long-lived hyperpolarized propane as an inhalable gaseous contrast agent for lung imaging and as a molecular tracer to study porous media using low-field NMR and MRI.

Aqueous, Heterogeneous para-Hydrogen-Induced 15N Polarization

The successful transfer of para-hydrogen-induced polarization to 15N spins using heterogeneous catalysts in aqueous solutions was demonstrated. Hydrogenation of a synthesized unsaturated 15N-labeled precursor (neurine) with parahydrogen (p-H2) over Rh/TiO2 heterogeneous catalysts yielded a hyperpolarized structural analogue of choline. As a result, 15N polarization enhancements of over 2 orders of magnitude were achieved for the 15N-labeled ethyltrimethylammonium ion product in deuterated water at elevated temperatures. Enhanced 15N NMR spectra were successfully acquired at 9.4 and 0.05 T. Importantly, long hyperpolarization lifetimes were observed at 9.4 T, with a 15N T1 of ∼6 min for the product molecules, and the T1 of the deuterated form exceeded 8 min. Taken together, these results show that this approach for generating hyperpolarized species with extended lifetimes in aqueous, biologically compatible solutions is promising for various biomedical applications.

NMR SLIC Sensing of Hydrogenation Reactions Using Parahydrogen in Low Magnetic Fields

Parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) is an NMR hyperpolarization technique that increases nuclear spin polarization by orders of magnitude, and it is particularly well-suited to study hydrogenation reactions. However, the use of high-field NMR spectroscopy is not always possible, especially in the context of potential industrial-scale reactor applications. On the other hand, the direct low-field NMR detection of reaction products with enhanced nuclear spin polarization is challenging due to near complete signal cancellation from nascent parahydrogen protons. We show that hydrogenation products prepared by PHIP can be irradiated with weak (on the order of spin–spin couplings of a few hertz) alternating magnetic field (called Spin-Lock Induced Crossing or SLIC) and consequently efficiently detected at low magnetic field (e.g., 0.05 T used here) using examples of several types of organic molecules containing a vinyl moiety. The detected hyperpolarized signals from several reaction products at tens of millimolar concentrations were enhanced by 10000-fold, producing NMR signals an order of magnitude greater than the background signal from protonated solvents.

High-resolution hyperpolarized in vivo metabolic 13C spectroscopy at low magnetic field (48.7 mT) following murine tail-vein injection

High-resolution 13C NMR spectroscopy of hyperpolarized succinate-1-13C-2,3-d2 is reported in vitro and in vivo using a clinical-scale, biplanar (80cm-gap) 48.7mT permanent magnet with a high homogeneity magnetic field. Non-localized 13C NMR spectra were recorded at 0.52MHz resonance frequency over the torso of a tumor-bearing mouse every 2s. Hyperpolarized 13C NMR signals with linewidths of ∼3Hz (corresponding to ∼6ppm) were recorded in vitro (2mL in a syringe) and in vivo (over a mouse torso). Comparison of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) for 13C NMR spectra acquired at 48.7mT and at 4.7T in a small-animal MRI scanner demonstrates a factor of ∼12 improvement for the 13C resonance linewidth attainable at 48.7mT compared to that at 4.7T in vitro. 13C hyperpolarized succinate-1-13C resonance linewidths in vivo are at least one order of magnitude narrower at 48.7mT compared to those observed in high-field (≥3T) studies employing HP contrast agents. The demonstrated high-resolution 13C in vivo spectroscopy could be useful for high-sensitivity spectroscopic studies involving monitoring HP agent uptake or detecting metabolism using HP contrast agents with sufficiently large 13C chemical shift differences.