Numerical recipes for faster MAS-DNP simulations

PyrroTriPol: a semi-rigid trityl-nitroxide for high field dynamic nuclear polarization

Magic angle spinning (MAS) dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) has significantly broadened the scope of solid-state NMR to study biomolecular systems and materials. In recent years, the advent of very high field DNP combined with fast MAS has brought new challenges in the design of polarizing agents (PA) used to enhance nuclear spin polarization. Here, we present a trityl-nitroxide PA family based on a piperazine linker, named PyrroTriPol, for both aqueous and organic solutions. These new radicals have similar properties to that of TEMTriPol-I and can be readily synthesized, and purified in large quantities thereby ensuring widespread application. The family relies on a rigid bridge connecting the trityl and the nitroxide offering a better control of the electron spin-spin interactions thus providing improved performance across a broad range of magnetic fields and MAS frequencies while requiring reduced microwave power compared to bis-nitroxides. We demonstrate the efficiency of the PyrroTriPol family under a magnetic field of 9.4, 14.1 and 18.8 T with respect to TEMTriPol-I. In particular, the superiority of PyrroTriPol was demonstrated on γ-Al2O3 nanoparticles which enabled the acquisition of a high signal-to-noise surface-selective 27Al multiple-quantum MAS experiment at 18.8 T and 40 kHz MAS frequency.

An analytical treatment of electron spectral saturation for dynamic nuclear polarization NMR of rotating solids

Saturation of electron magnetization by microwave irradiation under magic-angle spinning (MAS) is studied theoretically. The saturation is essential for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) enhancement of nuclear magnetic resonance signals. For a spin with a large g-anisotropy and a long T₁ relative to the rotor period, the sample rotation distributes saturation to the whole powder sample spectrum. Analytical expressions for the saturation and frequency profiles are obtained. For a pair of coupled electrons such as those in bis-nitroxides, which are commonly used for MAS DNP, an e_l-e_r model (where e_l and e_r stand for electrons on the left and the right, respectively, in their spectral positions) is introduced to simplify the analysis of a coupled two-spin system under MAS. For such a system, strong electron couplings exchange magnetization during dipolar/J rotor events when the two electron frequencies cross each other. The exchange is equivalent to a swap of the e_l and e_r electrons. This allows for the treatment of a coupled spin pair as two independent spins such that an analytical solution can be obtained for the steady-state magnetization and the difference between the two electrons. The theoretical study with its analytical result provides a simple physical picture of electron saturation under MAS and of how radical properties and experimental parameters affect cross-effect DNP. The effects of depolarization and the extension to more coupled electron spins are also discussed using this approach.

Spinning-Driven Dynamic Nuclear Polarization with Optical Pumping

We propose a new, more efficient, and potentially cost effective, solid-state nuclear spin hyperpolarization method combining the cross-effect mechanism and electron spin optical hyperpolarization in rotating solids. We first demonstrate optical hyperpolarization in the solid state at low temperatures and low field and then investigate its field dependence to obtain the optimal condition for high-field electron spin hyperpolarization. The results are then incorporated into advanced magic-angle spinning dynamic nuclear polarization (MAS-DNP) numerical simulations that show that optically pumped MAS-DNP could yield breakthrough enhancements at very high magnetic fields. Based on these investigations, enhancements greater than the ratio of electron to nucleus magnetic moments (>658 for ¹H) are possible without microwave irradiation. This could solve at once the MAS-DNP performance decrease with increasing field and the high cost of MAS-DNP instruments at very high fields.