STTR Phase I: Probe for High Field Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) at Room Temperature

这一小型企业技术转移(SSTR)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种核磁共振(NMR)探头，该探头将使DIGG开发和分析化学中的蛋白质结构确定领域的研究成为可能。其目标是使用一种名为动态核极化(DNP)的技术，将室温测量的信噪比提高200倍。这种信噪比的提高将使实验时间减少40,000倍，并将使目前的核磁共振方法无法研究的敏感现象成为可能。目前的DNP仪器和方法需要在-180摄氏度的低温范围内操作，这需要昂贵的低温系统，并限制了具有重要生物学意义的蛋白质的核磁共振表征，这些蛋白质在室温(0-20摄氏度)附近具有重要的动力学特性。一种新型的核磁共振探测器将被开发出来，它将使研究人员能够通过改善向核磁共振样品提供太赫兹功率，在室温下实现同样的核磁共振信号强度的增加。核磁共振探头和在室温下实现DNP益处的方法将降低当前DNP设置所需的低温基础设施的成本。该STTR第一阶段项目建议开发一种核磁共振探头，该探头使用一种新型的转子-谐振器，与电子顺磁共振(EPR)腔集成在一起，在室温下使用DNP将灵敏度提高200倍。与目前可用的DNP仪器相比，转子谐振器将使EPR/微波场强度增加10倍。建议的DNP-核磁共振探针将使DNP能够在室温下进行，与目前使用的低温DNP方法相比具有以下优点：a)分子动力学(运动)可以通过实验确定；b)分子结构不会因低温条件而改变；c)光谱分辨率将得到提高(更清晰的核磁共振谱线)。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (SSTR) project is the development of a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe that will enable research in the field of protein structure determination for dug development and analytical chemistry. The goal is to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in measurements taken at room temperature by a factor of 200 using a technique called Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP). This increase in signal-to-noise ratio will reduce the experiment time by a factor of 40,000, and will enable the study of sensitive phenomena not possible with current NMR methods. Current DNP instrumentation and methods require operation at cryogenic temperatures in the range of -180 degrees C, which requires expensive cryogenic systems, and limits the NMR characterization of biologically important proteins that have important dynamics around room temperature (0-20 degrees C). A novel NMR probe will be developed that will enable researchers to achieve the same increase in NMR signal strength at room temperature by improving the delivery of terahertz power to the NMR sample. The NMR probe and methods to achieve the benefits of DNP at room temperature will reduce the cost of cryogenic infrastructure necessary for current DNP setups. This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop an NMR probe head that uses a novel rotor-resonator integrated with an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) cavity to increase sensitivity by a factor of 200 at room temperature using DNP. The rotor resonator will increase the EPR/microwave field intensity by a factor of 10 compared to currently available DNP instrumentation. The proposed DNP-NMR probe will enable DNP at room temperature with the following advantages to currently employed cryogenic DNP methods: a) Molecular dynamics (motion) can be determined experimentally; b) molecular structure will not be altered by cryogenic conditions; and c) the spectral resolution will be improved (sharper NMR lines).