Rhodium nanocatalysts and hyperpolarization - synthesis and production of biomedical contrast agents

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Rhodium is a metal with a variety of catalytic applications due to its unique properties. One example of a reaction is the hydrogenation. In this proposal I am aiming to achieve the goal of synthesizing potent heterogeneous catalysts which are going to be utilized for the hyperpolarization of metabolites. Hyperpolarization is a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique which enhances signals over four orders of magnitude. A main field of application is the medical diagnostics. For diagnostics, hyperpolarized metabolites are injected into an organism and their metabolic conversion is imaged in realtime. One hyperpolarization method is based on the hydrogenation with para-hydrogen. In para-hydrogen, a nuclear singlet state can be populated up to 100% (100% spin order). This spin order can subsequently be converted into observable magnetization by means of a hydrogenation reaction. For metabolites, more than 10 000fold signal enhancements can be achieved. Mainly homogeneous catalysts are being utilized for the para-hydrogenation process. Homogeneous catalysts can hardly be separated on the timescale of a hyperpolarization experiment and raise toxicity concerns. The synthesis of a heterogeneous catalyst as pursued in this proposal will lead to possibilities to create clean metabolites for medical diagnostics. This is achieved by designing particles that generate high levels of hyperpolarization and can be filtered off from a molecule of interest.