Absolute 1H polarization measurement with a spin-correlated component of magnetization by hyperpolarized MAS-DNP solid-state NMR

Solid-State NMR Investigations of Extracellular Matrixes and Cell Walls of Algae, Bacteria, Fungi, and Plants

Extracellular matrixes (ECMs), such as the cell walls and biofilms, are important for supporting cell integrity and function and regulating intercellular communication. These biomaterials are also of significant interest to the production of biofuels and the development of antimicrobial treatment. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) and magic-angle spinning-dynamic nuclear polarization (MAS-DNP) are uniquely powerful for understanding the conformational structure, dynamical characteristics, and supramolecular assemblies of carbohydrates and other biomolecules in ECMs. This review highlights the recent high-resolution investigations of intact ECMs and native cells in many organisms spanning across plants, bacteria, fungi, and algae. We spotlight the structural principles identified in ECMs, discuss the current technical limitation and underexplored biochemical topics, and point out the promising opportunities enabled by the recent advances of the rapidly evolving ssNMR technology.

Solid-state MAS NMR at ultra low temperature of hydrated alanine doped with DNP radicals

Magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments at ultra low temperature (ULT) (≪ 100 K) have demonstrated clear benefits for obtaining large signal sensitivity gain and probing spin dynamics phenomena at ULT. ULT NMR is furthermore a highly promising platform for solid-state dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). However, ULT NMR is not widely used, given limited availability of such instrumentation from commercial sources. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of hydrated [U-¹³C]alanine, a standard bio-solid sample, from the first commercial 14.1 Tesla NMR spectrometer equipped with a closed-cycle helium ULT-MAS system. The closed-cycle helium MAS system provides precise temperature control from 25 K to 100 K and stable MAS from 1.5 kHz to 12 kHz. The ¹³C CP-MAS NMR of [U-¹³C]alanine showed 400% signal gain at 28 K compared with at 100 K. The large sensitivity gain results from the Boltzmann factor, radio frequency circuitry quality factor improvement, and the suppression of its methyl group rotation at ULT. We further observed that the addition of organic biradicals widely used for solid-state DNP significantly shortens the ¹H T₁ spin lattice relaxation time at ULT, without further broadening the ¹³C spectral linewidth compared to at 90 K. The mechanism of ¹H T₁ shortening is dominated by the two-electron-one-nucleus triple flip transition underlying the Cross Effect mechanism, widely relied upon to drive solid-state DNP. Our experimental observations suggest that the prospects of MAS NMR and DNP under ULT conditions established with a closed-cycle helium MAS system are bright.

Signal Deconvolution and Generative Topographic Mapping Regression for Solid-State NMR of Multi-Component Materials

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy provides information on native structures and the dynamics for predicting and designing the physical properties of multi-component solid materials. However, such an analysis is difficult because of the broad and overlapping spectra of these materials. Therefore, signal deconvolution and prediction are great challenges for their ssNMR analysis. We examined signal deconvolution methods using a short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and a non-negative tensor/matrix factorization (NTF, NMF), and methods for predicting NMR signals and physical properties using generative topographic mapping regression (GTMR). We demonstrated the applications for macromolecular samples involved in cellulose degradation, plastics, and microalgae such as Euglena gracilis. During cellulose degradation, ¹³C cross-polarization (CP)-magic angle spinning spectra were separated into signals of cellulose, proteins, and lipids by STFT and NTF. GTMR accurately predicted cellulose degradation for catabolic products such as acetate and CO₂. Using these methods, the ¹H anisotropic spectrum of poly-ε-caprolactone was separated into the signals of crystalline and amorphous solids. Forward prediction and inverse prediction of GTMR were used to compute STFT-processed NMR signals from the physical properties of polylactic acid. These signal deconvolution and prediction methods for ssNMR spectra of macromolecules can resolve the problem of overlapping spectra and support macromolecular characterization and material design.

Scaling analyses for hyperpolarization transfer across a spin-diffusion barrier and into bulk solid media

By analogy to heat and mass transfer film theory, a general approach is introduced for determining hyperpolarization transfer rates between dilute electron spins and a surrounding nuclear ensemble. These analyses provide new quantitative relationships for understanding, predicting, and optimizing the effectiveness of hyperpolarization protocols, such as Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) under magic-angle spinning conditions. An empirical DNP polarization-transfer coefficient is measured as a function of the bulk matrix 1H spin density and indicates the presence of two distinct kinetic regimes associated with different rate-limiting polarization transfer phenomena. Dimensional property relationships are derived and used to evaluate the competitive rates of spin polarization generation, propagation, and dissipation that govern hyperpolarization transfer between large coupled spin ensembles. The quantitative analyses agree closely with experimental measurements for the accumulation, propagation, and dissipation of hyperpolarization in solids and provide evidence for kinetically-limited transfer associated with a spin-diffusion barrier. The results and classical approach yield general design criteria for analyzing and optimizing polarization transfer processes involving complex interfaces and composite media for applications in materials science, physical chemistry and nuclear spintronics.

Dipolar order mediated 1H → 13C cross-polarization for dissolution-dynamic nuclear polarization

Magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy often suffer from a low intrinsic sensitivity, which can in some cases be circumvented by the use of hyperpolarization techniques. Dissolution-dynamic nuclear polarization offers a way of hyperpolarizing 13 C spins in small molecules, enhancing their sensitivity by up to 4 orders of magnitude. This is usually performed by direct 13 C polarization, which is straightforward but often takes more than an hour. Alternatively, indirect 1 H polarization followed by 1 H → 13 C polarization transfer can be implemented, which is more efficient and faster but is technically very challenging and hardly implemented in practice. Here we propose to remove the main roadblocks of the 1 H → 13 C polarization transfer process by using alternative schemes with the following: (i) less rf (radiofrequency) power; (ii) less overall rf energy; (iii) simple rf-pulse shapes; and (iv) no synchronized 1 H and 13 C rf irradiation. An experimental demonstration of such a simple 1 H → 13 C polarization transfer technique is presented for the case of [1-13 C ]sodium acetate, and is compared with the most sophisticated cross-polarization schemes. A polarization transfer efficiency of ∼ 0.43 with respect to cross-polarization was realized, which resulted in a 13 C polarization of ∼ 8.7  % after ∼ 10  min of microwave irradiation and a single polarization transfer step.

Spin Thermometry: A Straightforward Measure of Millikelvin Deuterium Spin Temperatures Achieved by Dynamic Nuclear Polarization

Dynamic nuclear polarization of samples at low temperatures, typically between 1.2 and 4.2 K, allows one to achieve spin temperatures of as low as 2 mK so that for many nuclear isotopes the high-temperature approximation is violated for the nuclear Zeeman interaction. This leads to characteristic asymmetries in powder spectra. We show that the line shapes due to the quadrupolar couplings of deuterium spins present in virtually all solvents used for such experiments (DNP juice) allow the quick yet accurate determination of the deuterium spin temperature or, equivalently, the deuterium polarization. The observation of quadrupolar echoes excited by small flip-angle pulses allows one to monitor the build-up and decay of the positive or negative deuterium polarization.

Recent developments in MAS DNP-NMR of materials

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a powerful technique for the characterization of the atomic-level structure and dynamics of materials. Nevertheless, the use of this technique is often limited by its lack of sensitivity, which can prevent the observation of surfaces, defects or insensitive isotopes. Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) has been shown to improve by one to three orders of magnitude the sensitivity of NMR experiments on materials under Magic-Angle Spinning (MAS), at static magnetic field B₀ ≥ 5 T, conditions allowing for the acquisition of high-resolution spectra. The field of DNP-NMR spectroscopy of materials has undergone a rapid development in the last ten years, spurred notably by the availability of commercial DNP-NMR systems. We provide here an in-depth overview of MAS DNP-NMR studies of materials at high B₀ field. After a historical perspective of DNP of materials, we describe the DNP transfers under MAS, the transport of polarization by spin diffusion and the various contributions to the overall sensitivity of DNP-NMR experiments. We discuss the design of tailored polarizing agents and the sample preparation in the case of materials. We present the DNP-NMR hardware and the influence of key experimental parameters, such as microwave power, magnetic field, temperature and MAS frequency. We give an overview of the isotopes that have been detected by this technique, and the NMR methods that have been combined with DNP. Finally, we show how MAS DNP-NMR has been applied to gain new insights into the structure of organic, hybrid and inorganic materials with applications in fields, such as health, energy, catalysis, optoelectronics etc.