Long-lived states detect interactions between small molecules and diamagnetic metal ions

Bimodal fluorescence/magnetic resonance molecular probes with extended spin lifetimes

Bimodal molecular probes combining nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and fluorescence have been widely studied in basic science, as well as clinical research. The investigation of spin phenomena holds promise to broaden the scope of available probes allowing deeper insights into physiological processes. Herein, a class of molecules with a bimodal character with respect to fluorescence and nuclear spin singlet states is introduced. Singlet states are NMR silent but can be probed indirectly. Symmetric, perdeuterated molecules, in which the singlet states can be populated by vanishingly small electron‐mediated couplings (below 1 Hz) are reported. The lifetimes of these states are an order of magnitude longer than the longitudinal relaxation times and up to four minutes at 7 T. Moreover, these molecules show either aggregation induced emission (AIE) or aggregation caused quenching (ACQ) with respect to their fluorescence. In the latter case, the existence of excited dimers, which are proposed to use in a switchable manner in combination with the quenching of nuclear spin singlet states, is observed

Exotic nuclear spin behavior in dendritic macromolecules

Dendrimers are a class of branched, highly symmetric macromolecules that have been shown to be useful for a vast number of different applications. Potential uses as fluorescence sensors, in catalysis and perhaps most importantly in medical applications as drug delivery systems or cytotoxica have been proposed. Herein we report on an exotic behaviour of the nuclear spins in a dendritic macromolecule in the presence of different paramagnetic ions. We show that the stability of the long lived nuclear singlet state, is affected by the presence of Cu(II), whereas other ions did not have any influence at all. This effect could not be observed in the case of a simple tripeptide, in which the nuclear singlet stability was influenced by all investigated paramagnetic ions, a potentially useful effect in the development of Cu(II) selective probes. By adding a fluorescent marker to our molecule we could show that the nuclear singlet multimer (NUSIMER) is taken up by living cells. Furthermore we were able to show that nuclear singlet state NMR can be used to investigate the NUSIMER in the presence of living cells, showing that an application in in vivo NMR can be feasible.

Mechanisms of coherent re-arrangement for long-lived spin order

Long-lived spin order-based approaches for magnetic resonance rely on the transition between two magnetic environments of different symmetries, one governed by the magnetic field of the spectrometer and the other where this strong magnetic field is inconsequential. Research on the excitation of magnetic-symmetry transitions in nuclear spins is a scientific field that debuted in Southampton in the year 2000. We advanced in this field carrying the baggage of pre-established directions in NMR spectroscopy. We propose to reveal herein the part of discoveries that may have been obscured by our choice to only look at them through the experience of such pre-established directions at the time. The methodological developments that are emphasised herein are the mechanisms of translation between the symmetric and non-symmetric environments with respect to the main magnetic field B 0 . More specifically, we look again thoroughly at zero-quantum rotations in the starting blocks of long-lived state populations, magnetisation transfers between hyperpolarised heteronuclei, and protons. These pulse sequences seed subsequent magnetic mechanisms that contribute to further applications. For instance, we show how some of the introduced coherence rotations were combined with classical pulse blocks to obtain two-dimensional correlations between protons and heteronuclei. We hope the pulse sequence building blocks discussed herein will open further perspectives for magnetic resonance experiments with long-lived spin order.

Symmetry versus entropy: Long-lived states and coherences

In recent years, new molecular symmetry-based approaches for magnetic resonance have been invented. The implications of these discoveries will be significant for molecular imaging via magnetic resonance, in vitro as well as in vivo, for quantum computing and for other fields. Since the initial observation in 2004 in Southampton that effective spin symmetry can be instilled in a molecule during magnetic resonance experiments, spin states that are resilient to relaxation mechanisms have been increasingly used. Most of these states are related to the nuclear singlet in a pair of J-coupled spins. Tailored relaxation rate constants for magnetization became available in molecules of different sizes and structures, as experimental developments broadened the scope of symmetry-adapted spin states. The ensuing access to timescales longer than the classically-attained ones by circa one order of magnitude allows the study of processes such as slow diffusion or slow exchange that were previously beyond reach. Long-lived states formed by differences between populations of singlets and triplets have overcome the limitations imposed by longitudinal relaxation times (T₁) by factors up to 40. Long-lived coherences formed by superpositions of singlets and triplets have overcome the limit of classical transverse coherence (T₂) by a factor 9. We present here an overview of the development and applications of long-lived states (LLS) and long-lived coherences (LLC's) and considerations on future perspectives.

Nuclear singlet multimers (NUSIMERs) with long-lived singlet states

Magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful tool in chemical analysis, structure determination and in medical diagnostics. Developing novel biological sensors for this field holds promise to better investigate protein structures or target diseases more efficiently. Herein, we explore nuclear spin singlet states in dendritic macromolecules as a platform molecule to develop stimuli responsive probes. We have developed a nuclear singlet multimer (NUSIMER) based on a generation 5 poly(amidoamine) dendrimer (PAMAM) which contains on average about 90 accessible nuclear spin singlet states with lifetimes up to 10-fold longer than the T 1 relaxation times (up to 10 seconds T s vs. T 1 < 0.5 seconds) in a single molecule. We demonstrate little influence on the singlet lifetime in phosphate buffer (H2O) and a high viscosity gel environment in the presence of paramagnetic oxygen. Additionally, we demonstrate an increase in singlet lifetime upon the release of a protective chemical moiety from the NUSIMER following a stimulus, whereby no change in longitudinal relaxation time is observed. The robustness and change in singlet lifetime of the NUSIMER holds promise for the development of a novel type of biosensors.