A comparative study of 1H and 19F Overhauser DNP in fluorinated benzenes

Abstract

Hyperpolarization techniques, such as Overhauser dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), can provide a dramatic increase in the signal obtained from nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and may therefore enable new applications where sensitivity is a limiting factor. In this contribution, studies of the ¹H and ¹⁹F Overhauser dynamic nuclear polarization enhancements at 345 mT are presented for three different aromatic solvents with the TEMPO radical for a range of radical concentrations. Furthermore, nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion measurements of the same solutions are analyzed, showing contributions from dipolar and scalar coupling modulated by translational diffusion and different coupling efficiency for different solvents and nuclei. Measurements of the electron paramagnetic resonance linewidth are included to support the analysis of the DNP saturation factor for varying radical concentration. The results of our study give an insight into the characteristics of nitroxide radicals as polarizing agents for ¹⁹F Overhauser DNP of aromatic fluorinated solvents. Furthermore, we compare our results with the findings of the extensive research on Overhauser DNP that was conducted in the past for a large variety of other radicals.