On nuclear spin-lattice relaxation due to hindered molecular reorientation

Relaxation times and microstructures

A discussion is presented of the evaluation of multiple relaxation components from water protons in biological tissue. The principal focus is to draw attention to the way in which limitations in the raw NMR data, such as signal-to-noise ratio, data sampling density and acquisition window width, affect the precision and resolution in the processed multiple component solution of the return to thermal equilibrium. The second issue discussed is the interpretation of these multiple components in terms of microstructural compartments of the biological sample and, thirdly, we outline some of the successes in determining regional and pathological variations in microstructure in the human body in-vivo, using the technique of multiple relaxation components.

Residual dipolar coupling of the Cr/PCr methyl resonance in resting human medial gastrocnemius muscle

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the TE dependence of the creatine methyl proton signal at 3.02 ppm, resulting from a symmetric PRESS sequence applied to the resting human gastrocnemius muscle. The analysis shows that a two-component decay of the central peak of the dipolar-coupled-methyl triplet should be interpreted as the superposition of a rapid ( approximately 34 msec) dipolar dephasing and a less rapid ( approximately 162 msec) transverse relaxation. These data do not support a two-pool hypothesis for TE dependence of this signal. Magn Reson Med 42:421-424, 1999.

A nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of solid tetraphosphorus trisulphide

The 31 P n. m. r. spectrum and spin–lattice relaxation time in polycrystalline P 4 S 3 have been measured between 77 and 500 K in the range 7 to 25 MHz. In phase II the 31 P n. m. r. spectra and second moments are dominated by the anisotropic chemical shift interactions. Close to the first-order phase transition at 314 K the spectra are narrowed by reorientation of the molecules about their triad axes. This motion also generates anisotropicshift spin-lattice relaxation notable for its absence of frequency dependence. The activation energy of this motion was found to be 34 kJ mol -1 . Nuclear dipolar interactions play only a minor role. In phase 1 the molecules exhibit rapid quasi-isotropic reorientation and diffusion. The anisotropic broadening interactions are averaged out and an AB 3 high-resolution spectrum of a doublet and quartet are resolved at 420 K, well below the melting point, 446 K. In this phase the spin–rotation interaction relaxation mechanism becomes dominant. Taking advantage of the remarkable motional narrowing in this compound we report the first solid-state n. m. r. J spectrum. This spectrum, recorded at 410 K, allowed the J coupling between apical and basal nuclei in solid P 4 S 3 to be measured accurately, 70.4 ± 0.5 Hz.