Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) were chosen as a solid support material for the immobilization of a new Wilkinson's-type catalyst. In a first step, polymer molecules (poly(triphenylphosphine)ethylene (PTPPE); 4-diphenylphosphine styrene as monomer) were grafted onto the silica nanoparticles by surface-initiated photoinferter-mediated polymerization (SI-PIMP). The catalyst was then created by binding rhodium (Rh) to the polymer side chains, with RhCl3⋅x H2O as a precursor. The triphenylphosphine units and rhodium as Rh(I) provide an environment to form Wilkinson's catalyst-like structures. Employing multinuclear ((31)P, (29)Si, and (13)C) solid-state NMR spectroscopy (SSNMR), the structure of the catalyst bound to the polymer and the intermediates of the grafting reaction have been characterized. Finally, first applications of this catalyst in hydrogenation reactions employing para-enriched hydrogen gas (PHIP experiments) and an assessment of its leaching properties are presented.

Hyperpolarization (HP) techniques are increasingly important in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS). HP methods have the potential to overcome the fundamentally low sensitivity of magnetic resonance (MR). A breakthrough of HP-MR in life sciences and medical applications is still limited by the small number of accessible, physiologically relevant substrates. Our study presents a new approach to extend PHIP to substrates that primarily cannot be hyperpolarized due to a steady intramolecular re-arrangement, the so-called keto-enol tautomerism. To overcome this obstacle we exploited the fact that instead of the instable enol form the corresponding stable ester can be used as a precursor molecule. This strategy now enables the hydrogenation which is required to apply the standard PHIP procedure. As the final step a hydrolysis is necessary to release the hyperpolarized target molecule. Using this new approach ethanol was successfully hyperpolarized for the first time. It may therefore be assumed that the outlined multi-step procedure can be used for other keto-enol tautomerized substances thereby opening the application of PHIP to a multitude of molecules relevant to analyzing metabolic pathways.

The unsaturated side chain of l-propargylglycine (Pra) was used to study parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) in synthetic oligopeptides. For the first time PHIP-induced NMR signal enhancement was demonstrated using model peptides bearing various functional side chains.

Signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) can enhance nuclear magnetic resonance signals by several orders of magnitude. However, until now this was limited to a small number of model target molecules. Here, a new convenient method for SABRE activation applicable to a variety of synthetic model oligopeptides is demonstrated. For the first time, a highly SABRE-active pyridine-based biocompatible molecular framework is incorporated into synthetic oligopeptides. The SABRE activity is preserved, demonstrating the importance of such earmarking. Finally, a crucial exchange process responsible for SABRE activity is identified and discussed.

(1)H NMR spectra of the methyl group in an oriented crystal sample of methylmalonic acid with all three non-methyl protons replaced by deuterons are interpreted in terms of the damped quantum rotation (DQR) theory of NMR line shapes. The DQR approach offers a perfect theoretical reproduction of the observed spectra while the conventional Alexander-Binsch line-shape model shows evident defects in the present case. The temperature trends of the quantities characterizing the coherent and incoherent dynamics of the methyl group in the DQR approach (the effective tunnelling frequency and two coherence-damping rates) derived from the spectra are fairly reproduced using a model reported previously. The present findings provide further evidence of limitations to the validity of the common belief that molecular rate processes in condensed phases are necessarily classical.

No abstract

The biorelevant PyFALGEA oligopeptide ligand, which is selective towards the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), has been successfully employed as a substrate in magnetic resonance signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) experiments. It is demonstrated that PyFALGEA and the iridium catalyst IMes form a PyFALGEA:IMes molecular complex. The interaction between PyFALGEA:IMes and H2 results in a ternary SABRE complex. Selective 1D EXSY experiments reveal that this complex is labile, which is an essential condition for successful hyperpolarization by SABRE. Polarization transfer from parahydrogen to PyFALGEA is observed leading to significant enhancement of the 1H NMR signals of PyFALGEA. Different iridium catalysts and peptides are inspected to discuss the influence of their molecular structures on the efficiency of hyperpolarization. It is observed that PyFALGEA oligopeptide hyperpolarization is more efficient when an iridium catalyst with a sterically less demanding NHC ligand system such as IMesBn is employed. Experiments with shorter analogues of PyFALGEA, that is, PyLGEA and PyEA, show that the bulky phenylalanine from the PyFALGEA oligopeptide causes steric hindrance in the SABRE complex, which hampers hyperpolarization with IMes. Finally, a single‐scan 1H NMR SABRE experiment of PyFALGEA with IMesBn revealed a unique pattern of NMR lines in the hydride region, which can be treated as a fingerprint of this important oligopeptide.

Low‐field benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance (BT‐NMR) spectrometers with Halbach magnets are being increasingly used in science and industry as cost‐efficient tools for the monitoring of chemical reactions, including hydrogenation. However, their use of low‐field magnets limits both resolution and sensitivity. In this paper, we show that it is possible to alleviate these two problems through the combination of parahydrogen‐induced polarization (PHIP) and fast correlation spectroscopy with time‐resolved non‐uniform sampling (TR‐NUS). PHIP can enhance NMR signals so that substrates are easily detectable on BT‐NMR spectrometers. The interleaved acquisition of one‐ and two‐dimensional spectra with TR‐NUS provides unique insight into the consecutive moments of hydrogenation reactions, with a spectral resolution unachievable in a standard approach. We illustrate the potential of the technique with two examples: the hydrogenation of ethylphenyl propiolate and the hydrogenation of a mixture of two substrates – ethylphenyl propiolate and ethyl 2‐butynoate.