Low-temperature cross polarization in view of enhancing dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization in NMR

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) induced by saturation of ESR transitions of TEMPO at 1.2 K and 3.35 T is characterized by build-up rates that are typically 5 times faster for protons than for the carboxylic carbon-13 in acetate. We show that cross polarization from protons to carbon-13 allows one to achieve a polarization P(C-13) >20% in less than 10 min, twice as much as has been previously reported, in one-fifth of the time. This should open the way to an unprecedented improvement in the efficiency of dissolution DNP. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.