Signal Amplification in MR achieved through novel inorganic templates

核磁共振（NMR）可以说是表征溶液中物质的最重要方法之一。它依赖于某些原子核具有磁性这一事实。因此，当它们被放置在均匀磁场中时，需要精确的能量来改变它们的磁取向，并利用这来了解它们的局部物理和化学环境。这种现象最广泛的应用是磁共振成像（MRI）的临床应用，它提供了对身体状态和健康的无与伦比的非侵入性见解。在正常情况下，原子核在磁场中的行为造成了NMR和MRI的主要缺点之一：灵敏度差。这种灵敏度的缺乏是因为样品中磁取向的分布使得只有极少数分子的效应可以作为信号被观察到。超极化，这一建议的主题，是一种改变磁场分布的方法，使观察到的信号可以增加几个数量级。直到最近，有效的超极化可以通过将磁化强度从电子转移到原子核的漫长而小规模的过程来实现，或者通过使用氢化反应将磁化强度从仲氢中的超极化原子核转移。仲氢在室温下占天然氢的四分之一，是航天飞机的燃料。该提议涉及一种新技术，该技术允许物质的超极化而不需要化学反应。该提案特别关注催化化学方面的过程优化，可以与超极化催化剂相互作用的分子范围以及该现象的物理基础。该提案旨在创建一种通用的流动池，用于大量连续生产超极化物质。据预测，提供这种前所未有的新方法来增加信号强度可能在化学中具有广泛的应用，并且对于寻求改善MRI的方法以及因此其作为诊断工具的能力也具有重要意义。

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is arguably one of the most important methods for characterising materials in solution. It relies on the fact that certain nuclei possess the property of magnetism. Consequently when they are placed in a uniform magnetic field a precise amount of energy is required to change their magnetic orientation and this is exploited to inform on their local physical and chemical environment. The most widely recognised use of this phenomenon is found the clinical application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which offers unparalleled non-invasive insights into the state and health of the body. In normal conditions the behaviour of nuclei in a magnetic field creates one of the major drawbacks of both NMR and MRI : poor sensitivity. This lack of sensitivity arises because the distribution of magnetic orientations in a sample is such that the effects of only a very few of the molecules can be observed as a signal. Hyperpolarisation, the subject of this proposal, is a method for altering the magnetic distribution so that the observed signal can be increased by several orders of magnitude. Until recently effective hyperpolarisation could be achieved either by a lengthy and small scale process of transferring magnetisation from electrons to nuclei, or by using a hydrogenation reaction to transfer magnetisation from hyperpolarised nuclei in parahydrogen. Parahydrogen constitutes one quarter of naturally occurring hydrogen at room temperature and is the fuel of the space shuttle. This proposal is concerned with a new technique that allows hyperpolarisation of a substance without the need for a chemical reaction. The proposal is specifically concerned with the optimisation of the process, in terms of the chemistry of catalysis, the range of molecules that can interact with the hyperpolarised catalysts and the physical basis of the phenomenon. The proposal seeks to create a flow cell for generic use for the continuous production of hyperpolarised substances in large quantities. It is predicted that the provision of this unprecedented new method for increasing signal strengths could have wide ranging applications within chemistry and also have important implications for methods that seek to improve MRI and therefore its power as a diagnostic tool.