Dynamic nuclear polarization-enhanced 1H–13C double resonance NMR in static samples below 20 K

Abstract

We demonstrate the feasibility of one-dimensional and two-dimensional 1H–13C double resonance NMR experiments with dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) at 9.4T and temperatures below 20K, including both 1H–13C cross-polarization and 1H decoupling, and discuss the effects of polarizing agent type, polarizing agent concentration, temperature, and solvent deuteration. We describe a two-channel low-temperature DNP/NMR probe, capable of carrying the radio-frequency power load required for 1H–13C cross-polarization and high-power proton decoupling. Experiments at 8K and 16K reveal a significant T2 relaxation of 13C, induced by electron spin flips. Carr–Purcell experiments and numerical simulations of Carr–Purcell dephasing curves allow us to determine the effective correlation time of electron flips under our experimental conditions. The dependence of the DNP signal enhancement on electron spin concentration shows a maximum near 80mM. Although no significant difference in the absolute DNP enhancements for triradical (DOTOPA-TEMPO) and biradical (TOTAPOL) dopants was found, the triradical produced greater DNP build-up rates, which are advantageous for DNP experiments. Additionally the feasibility of structural measurements on 13C-labeled biomolecules was demonstrated with a two-dimensional 13C–13C exchange spectrum of selectively 13C-labeled β-amyloid fibrils.