Project description
Reaching the full power of NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful technique, but its low sensitivity limits its potential. Dynamic nuclear polarisation (DNP) enhances NMR signals by transferring polarisation from electron spins to nuclear ones, enabling unprecedented sensitivity. However, despite two decades of research, DNP has not reached its full potential due to limited quantum-mechanical understanding. The breakthrough variant, magic angle spinning (MAS)-DNP, has been hindered by a lack of experimental data from electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) under MAS conditions. The ERC-funded MASEPR project addresses this gap by developing a high-field, cryogenic MAS-EPR system. This innovative approach will reveal the electron spin dynamics of MAS-DNP, unlocking its full potential and enabling new insights in chemistry, biology, and materials science.
Objective
Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) is the most widely applicable method for solving the main problem of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR): its low sensitivity. This is achieved by polarization transfer from electron spins to nuclear ones, allowing for up to two orders of magnitude signal enhancement, which enabled the expansion of NMR to multiple systems previously unamenable to it.
Despite two decades of extensive research, DNP is yet to reach its full potential, the bottleneck being the quantum-mechanical understanding. While Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) experiments have provided multiple insights on static DNP mechanisms, leading to improved DNP experiments, analogous EPR experiments for Magic Angle Spinning (MAS)-DNP, the most prolific DNP variant, were never performed. Instead, our understanding of MAS-DNP relies on theoretical considerations and numerical simulations, which naturally cannot capture the entire picture. The main obstacle for MAS-EPR is the complexity of the instrumentation and lack of methodology to perform EPR experiments under characteristic MAS-DNP conditions: high magnetic fields, cryogenic temperatures, and MAS. This project aims to bridge this crucial gap.
We have recently recorded the first high-field MAS-EPR spectra, using a unique high-field dual DNP/EPR spectrometer specifically tailored to the investigation of DNP mechanisms, designed and constructed in my lab. In this project, we will expand the experimental capabilities by developing the dedicated hardware and establishing the methodology for high-field, cryogenic MAS-EPR. This will allow, for the first time, to experimentally observe the electron spin dynamics in MAS-DNP, thus deciphering the DNP mechanisms. This will unlock the full potential of MAS-DNP, allowing for systems currently unamenable to NMR to benefit from the atomic-level structural and dynamical information NMR provides, having profound effects in chemistry, structural biology and material science.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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69978 Tel Aviv
Israel
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