FT-EPR with a Nonresonant Probe: Use of a Truncated Coaxial Line

Broadband transmission EPR spectroscopy

EPR spectroscopy employs a resonator operating at a single microwave frequency and phase-sensitive detection using modulation of the magnetic field. The X-band spectrometer is the general standard with a frequency in the 9-10 GHz range. Most (bio)molecular EPR spectra are determined by a combination of the frequency-dependent electronic Zeeman interaction and a number of frequency-independent interactions, notably, electron spin - nuclear spin interactions and electron spin - electron spin interactions, and unambiguous analysis requires data collection at different frequencies. Extant and long-standing practice is to use a different spectrometer for each frequency. We explore the alternative of replacing the narrow-band source plus single-mode resonator with a continuously tunable microwave source plus a non-resonant coaxial transmission cell in an unmodulated external field. Our source is an arbitrary wave digital signal generator producing an amplitude-modulated sinusoidal microwave in combination with a broadband amplifier for 0.8-2.7 GHz. Theory is developed for coaxial transmission with EPR detection as a function of cell dimensions and materials. We explore examples of a doublet system, a high-spin system, and an integer-spin system. Long, straigth, helical, and helico-toroidal cells are developed and tested with dilute aqueous solutions of spin label hydroxy-tempo. A detection limit of circa 5 µM HO-tempo in water at 800 MHz is obtained for the present setup, and possibilities for future improvement are discussed.

DANCING WITH THE ELECTRONS: TIME-DOMAIN AND CW IN VIVO EPR IMAGING

The progress in the development of imaging the distribution of unpaired electrons in living systems and the functional and the potential diagnostic dimensions of such an imaging process, using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging (EPRI), is traced from its origins with emphasis on our own work. The importance of EPR imaging stems from the fact that many paramagnetic probes show oxygen dependent spectral broadening. Assessment of in vivo oxygen concentration is an important factor in radiation oncology in treatment-planning and monitoring treatment-outcome. The emergence of narrow-line trairylmethyl based, bio-compatible spin probes has enabled the development of radiofrequency time-domain EPRI. Spectral information in time-domain EPRI can be achieved by generating a time sequence of T(2)* or T(2) weighted images. Progress in CW imaging has led to the use of rotating gradients, more recently rapid scan with direct detection, and a combination of all the three. Very low field MRI employing Dynamic Nuclear polarization (Overhauser effect) is also employed for monitoring tumor hypoxia, and re-oxygenation in vivo. We have also been working on the co-registration of MRI and time domain EPRI on mouse tumor models at 300 MHz using a specially designed resonator assembly. The mapping of the unpaired electron distribution and unraveling the spectral characteristics by using magnetic resonance in presence of stationary and rotating gradients in indeed 'dancing with the (unpaired) electrons', metaphorically speaking.

The solution conformation of triarylmethyl radicals

Hyperfine coupling tensors to 1H, 2H, and natural abundance 13C were measured using X-band pulsed electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy for two triarylmethyl (trityl) radicals used in electron paramagnetic resonance imaging and oximetry: methyl tris(8-carboxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-benzo[1,2d:4,5-d']bis(1,3)dithiol-4-yl) and methyl tris(8-carboxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl(-d3)-benzo[1,2d:4,5-d']bis(1,3)dithiol-4-yl). Quantum chemical calculations using density functional theory predict a structure that reproduces the experimentally determined hyperfine tensors. The radicals are propeller-shaped with the three aryl rings nearly mutually orthogonal. The central carbon atom carrying most of the unpaired electron spin density is surrounded by the sulfur atoms in the radical and is completely shielded from solvent. This structure explains features of the electron spin relaxation of these radicals and suggests ways in which the radicals can be chemically modified to improve their characteristics for imaging and oximetry.

Electron spin relaxation of triarylmethyl radicals in fluid solution

Electron spin relaxation times of a Nycomed triarylmethyl radical (sym-trityl) in water, 1:1 water:glycerol, and 1:9 water:glycerol were measured at L-band, S-band, and X-band by pulsed EPR methods. In H(2)O solution, T(1) is 17+/-1 micros at X-band at ambient temperature, is nearly independent of microwave frequency, and exhibits little dependence on viscosity. The temperature dependence of T(1) in 1:1 water:glycerol is characteristic of domination by a Raman process between 20 and 80 K. The increased spin-lattice relaxation rates at higher temperatures, including room temperature, are attributed to a local vibrational mode that modulates spin-orbit coupling. In H(2)O solution, T(2) is 11+/-1 micros at X-band, increasing to 13+/-1 micros at L-band. For more viscous solvent mixtures, T(2) is much shorter than T(1) and weakly frequency dependent, which indicates that incomplete motional averaging of hyperfine anisotropy makes a significant contribution to T(2). In water and 1:1 water:glycerol solutions continuous wave EPR linewidths are not relaxation determined, but become relaxation determined in the higher viscosity 1:9 water:glycerol solutions. The Lorentzian component of the 250-MHz linewidths as a function of viscosity is in good agreement with T(2)-determined contributions to the linewidths at higher frequencies.