Dynamics and Characterization of Long-Lived Hyperpolarized Molecules in Magnetic Resonance

在这个由化学部化学结构、动力学和机制项目资助的项目中，杜克大学的 Warren S. Warren 教授将通过实验确定并从理论上理解结构材料中单线态自旋弛豫时间的基本极限。 这涉及优化的下一代磁共振试剂的合成，旨在测量特定的代谢和酶促过程并澄清分子动力学问题。 这里的目标是利用量子力学设计分子，使其保持超极化的时间远远长于传统方法可用的几秒钟，从而扩大其用途。 所提出的活动的智力价值来自于看似不同领域（量子计算中的退相干减少、化学物理、合成有机化学、分子生物学）的整合，以解决有关自旋动力学的基本问题。更广泛的影响包括这项工作彻底改变材料成像和体内磁共振光谱的潜力。 这项工作将极大地提高新开发方法的实用性，将通常不可见的分子转变为核磁共振（NMR）和磁共振成像（MRI）“灯泡”，从而阐明化学动力学。 沃伦教授和他的学生将创造出比目前可用的秒数长得多的“灯泡”化合物，从而可以研究生化反应等较慢的过程。 这两个领域的长期影响可能是深远的。例如，几乎所有 MRI 扫描都只针对水，这可以允许使用检测特定疾病途径的分子进行扫描。

In this project funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Warren S. Warren of Duke University will determine experimentally and understand theoretically the fundamental limits of singlet spin relaxation times in structured materials. This involves synthesis of optimized, next-generation magnetic resonance agents targeted to measure specific metabolic and enzymatic processes and clarify questions on molecular dynamics. The goal here is to use quantum mechanics to design molecules which can preserve hyperpolarization far longer than the few seconds available by traditional methods, thus broadening their utility. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity comes from the integration of seemingly disparate fields (decoherence reduction in quantum computing; chemical physics, synthetic organic chemistry, molecular biology) to address fundamental questions about spin dynamics. Broader impacts include the potential this work has to revolutionize materials imaging and in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This work will dramatically improve the utility of newly developed methods which turn normally invisible molecules into nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) "light bulbs" and thus elucidate chemical dynamics. Professor Warren and his students will create compounds which act as "light bulbs" far longer than the seconds currently available, thus permitting studies of slower processes such as biochemical reactions. The long term impact in both fields could be profound; for example, almost all MRI scans are only of water, and this could permit scans using molecules that detect specific disease pathways.