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Ready to elevate your research? Our products are designed to unlock new possibilities. While these papers didn't use our technology, they showcase applications where our solutions could significantly improve sensitivity and resolution, and, in some cases, add a new dimension of data analysis that wasn't previously possible.
Stefańska, M., Müntener, T. & Hiller, S.
Commun Chem, 8, 223 (2025)
Towards target diagnostics of low-concentrated molecules in biofluids, NMR spectroscopy faces limitations due to low sensitivity, signal overlap, and high equipment costs. Hyperpolarization methods such as photo-chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (photo-CIDNP) can mitigate some of these challenges. In this study, we explore the potential of steady-state photo-CIDNP to quantify target molecules in urine samples. Matrix interference poses a significant challenge to quantitative measurements, and we thus establish two counteracting methods: spiking and biofluid dilution. Experiments conducted in both high (14.1 T) and low (1.9 T) magnetic fields demonstrate the effectiveness of photo-CIDNP-based quantification at micromolar levels for the analytes sumatriptan and paracetamol. We report limits of quantification (LOQs) in complex matrices down to 3.5 μM and average errors of less than 26% with the spiking method and less than 11% using biofluid dilution. This proof-of-concept study highlights the potential of NMR supported by photo-CIDNP as a target diagnostic tool for rapid drug quantification and clinical monitoring applications, especially with low-cost benchtop NMR devices.
Giulia Licciardi , Letizia Fiorucci , Jorge A. Villanueva-Garibay , Olof Stenström , Enrico Ravera , Fabien Ferrage , Claudio Luchinat , Giacomo Parigi
Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2025,437, Part C, 128538
- Olive oil as an example of viscous liquid is studied by field cycling relaxometry.
- Low magnetic field relaxation rates were measured with a novel shuttle system.
- Shuttle measurements were combined with standard relaxometry.
- The high resolution provides insights on the different mobility of molecular groups
- Motions on a timescale from microseconds to tens of picoseconds are observed.
Emily E. Brown, Rielly J. Harrison, Dmytro Havrylyuk, Stephen J. McBride, Edith C. Glazer, Felix N. Castellano and Thomas Theis
Chem. Commun., 2025,61, 4674-4677
Hyperpolarization derived from signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) is valued for its relative simplicity among hyperpolarization approaches. Here, we demonstrate that photoejection of the ligands pyridazine and pyrazine from prodrug Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes offers a new modality for activating SABRE hyperpolarization, achieving enhancements of over 3200-fold.
Panter, S.; Ayekoi, A.; Tesche, J.; Chen, J.; Illarionov, B.; Bacher, A.; Fischer, M.; Weber, S.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25, 848.
5-Deazaflavins are analogs of naturally occurring flavin cofactors. They serve as substitutes for natural flavin cofactors to investigate and modify the reaction pathways of flavoproteins. Demethylated 5-deazaflavins are potential candidates for artificial cofactors, allowing us to fine-tune the reaction kinetics and absorption characteristics of flavoproteins. In this contribution, demethylated 5-deazariboflavin radicals are investigated (1) to assess the influence of the methyl groups on the electronic structure of the 5-deazaflavin radical and (2) to explore their photophysical properties with regard to their potential as artificial cofactors. We determined the proton hyperfine structure of demethylated 5-deazariboflavins using photochemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (photo-CIDNP) spectroscopy, as well as density functional theory (DFT). To provide context, we compare our findings to a study of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) derivatives. We found a significant influence of the methylation pattern on the absorption properties, as well as on the proton hyperfine coupling ratios of the xylene moiety, which appears to be solvent-dependent. This effect is enhanced by the replacement of N5 by C5-H in 5-deazaflavin derivatives compared to their respective flavin counterparts.
E. Cataldi, M. Raschig, M. Gutmann, P. T. Geppert, M. Ruopp, M. Schock, H. Gerwe, R. Bertermann, L. Meinel, M. Finze, A. Nowak-Król, M. Decker, T. Lühmann
ChemBioChem 2023, 24, e202200570.
When amber means “go”: A perfluorinated azobenzene was synthesized and stapled to free cysteines within a helical peptide by using site-selective perfluoroarylation chemistry. Illumination experiments proved successful change of the peptide's secondary structure in response to amber light.
Mitin, Dmitry; Bullinger, Friedemann; Dobrynin, Sergey; Engelmann, Joern; Scheffler, Klaus; et al.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(7), 4041
In cancer diagnostics, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses contrast agents to enhance the distinction between the target tissue and background. Several promising approaches have been developed to increase MRI sensitivity, one of which ...
Within applications of relaxometry, protein applications require the most high resolution and sensitivity. Due to the value range of relaxation parameters of biomolecular systems, in addition to the demand for high resolution, a rapid field switch is essential.
Mary F. Roberts and Lizbeth Hedstrom
Front. Mol. Biosci. 9:865519.
The dynamic interactions of enzymes and substrates underpins catalysis, yet few techniques can interrogate the dynamics of protein-bound ligands. Here we describe the use of field cycling NMR relaxometry to measure the dynamics of enzyme-bound substrates and cofactors in catalytically competent complexes of GMP reductase. These studies reveal new binding modes unanticipated by x-ray crystal structures and reaction-specific dynamic networks. Importantly, this work demonstrates that distal interactions not usually considered part of the reaction coordinate can play an active role in catalysis. The commercialization of shuttling apparatus will make field cycling relaxometry more accessible and expand its use to additional nuclei, promising more intriguing findings to come.
In addition to protein dynamics investigation, relaxivity measurement on contrast agents is also a hot topic in NMR relaxometry studies. Relaxivity measurement is also a field-dependent relaxation measurement but observing on the solvent side. Its important application as contrast agents in MRI. The agents perturb the relaxation mechanism in water to increase the imaging contrast in the region of interest.
In the field of soil chemistry and environmental chemistry, field-cycling NMR relaxometry has not yet been a well-recognized approach. Hence, Prof. Conte has shared two of his works to introduce the capability of field-cycling NMR in applications of soil chemistry and environmental chemistry. For scientists who are interested in environmental science, relaxometry can explore more and open different windows of molecular dynamics in soil chemistry.
Ever since the early days of field-cycling NMR, the dynamics of molecules in the liquid or the solid state have been at the center of interest; even more, combination of both phases such as the motion of molecules on solid surfaces ask for the versatility of measuring the longitudinal relaxation time as a function of magnetic field strength. “Molecular dynamics” in this sense covers two different aspects: the statistics of rotational and translational motion of small molecules that are assumed as rigid, and the consequences of internal motion on the overall mobility in larger molecules such as polymers.
Yonghong Ding, Alexey S. Kiryutin, Alexandra V. Yurkovskaya, Denis V. Sosnovsky, Renad Z. Sagdeev, Saskia Bannister, Tilman Kottke, Rajiv K. Kar, Igor Schapiro, Konstantin L. Ivanov & Joerg Matysik
Scientific Reports 9, 18436 (2019)
CIDNP (Chemical Induced Dynamic Nuclear Polarization) is a high-sensitivity method for photochemical reactions investigation and radical studies. This manner is also able to apply to protein dynamics investigation, such as protein folding. Studies of CIDNP in weak magnetic fields even give additional information on radical reaction mechanisms and on exchange processes.
Studies of low magnetic field photo-CIDNP require two mechanical breakthroughs, one is a lumination unit, the other is a switcher of magnetic fields. The Lumination unit was developed by using a specific wavelength laser and a light guide to the NMR tube. Nowadays, the lumination unit was alternatively performed by Light-emission diodes (LED) instead of laser lumination. As for the switcher of magnetic fields, one can imply field-cycler to carry the sample to the low-field where the lumination unit is located.
He, L., Tan, P., Zhu, L. et al.
Nat Chem Biol 17, 915–923 (2021).
Felix Torres, Matthias Bütikofer, Gabriela R. Stadler, Alois Renn, Harindranath Kadavath, Raitis Bobrovs, Kristaps Jaudzems, and Roland Riek
Journal of the American Chemical Society 2023 145 (22), 12066-12080
Boris Fürtig, Janina Buck, Vijayalaxmi Manoharan, Wolfgang Bermel, Andres Jäschke, Philipp Wenter, Stefan Pitsch, and Harald Schwalbe
Biopolymers Volume86, Issue5-6, Special Issue: Special Focus on NMR of Nucleic Acids, 5 – 15 August 2007, Pages 360-383
.... information derived from time-resolved NMR experiments, namely the acquisition of native chemical shifts, can be readily interpreted in light of formation of a single long-range hydrogen bonding interaction. Together with mutational data that can readily be obtained for RNA and new ligation technologies that enhance site resolution even further, time-resolved NMR may become a powerful tool to decipher RNA folding. ...
Felix Torres, Alois Renn, and Roland Riek
Magn. Reson., 2, 321–329, https://doi.org/10.5194/mr-2-321-2021, 2021.
.... In photo-CIDNP of interest here the radical pair is between a dye and the molecule to be polarized. Here, we explore continuous-wave (CW) photo-CIDNP (denoted CW-photo-CIDNP) with a set of 10 tryptophan and tyrosine analogues, many of them newly identified to be photo-CIDNP active, and we observe not only signal enhancement of 2 orders of magnitude for 1H at 600 MHz (corresponding to 10 000 times in measurement time) but also reveal that polarization enhancement correlates with the hydrophobicity of the molecules. Furthermore, the small chemical library established indicates the existence of many photo-CIDNP-active molecules.
Baptiste Joalland, et al.
Anal Chem. 2020 Jan 7;92(1):1340-1345.
Eleonora Cavallari, Carla Carrera, Tommaso Boi, Silvio Aime, and Francesca Reineri
J. Phys. Chem. B 2015, 119, 31, 10035–10041
Bodenstedt, S., Mitchell, M.W. & Tayler, M.C.D.
Nat. Commun. 12, 4041 (2021).
More applications and discussions are in Field Cycling Communication. Field Cycling Communication is a free column for sharing news and pieces of literature related to the field-cycling technique and its applications. It is edited and owned by Field Cycling Technology Ltd. We are welcome that researchers share their experiences or results on this platform. We also invite some pioneers to share their experiences with their researches.