Magneto-optical contrast in liquid-state optically detected NMR spectroscopy

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Dec 6;108(49):19510-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1108702108. Epub 2011 Nov 18.

Abstract

We use optical Faraday rotation (OFR) to probe nuclear spins in real time at high-magnetic field in a range of diamagnetic sample fluids. Comparison of OFR-detected NMR spectra reveals a correlation between the relative signal amplitude and the fluid Verdet constant, which we interpret as a manifestation of the variable detuning between the probe beam and the sample optical transitions. The analysis of chemical-shift-resolved, optically detected spectra allows us to set constraints on the relative amplitudes of hyperfine coupling constants, both for protons at chemically distinct sites and other lower-gyromagnetic-ratio nuclei including carbon, fluorine, and phosphorous. By considering a model binary mixture we observe a complex dependence of the optical response on the relative concentration, suggesting that the present approach is sensitive to the solvent-solute dynamics in ways complementary to those known in inductive NMR. Extension of these experiments may find application in solvent suppression protocols, sensitivity-enhanced NMR of metalloproteins in solution, the investigation of solvent-solute interactions, or the characterization of molecular orbitals in diamagnetic systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Bromobenzenes / chemistry
  • Carbon / chemistry
  • Chemical Phenomena
  • Fluorine / chemistry
  • Magnetic Fields*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / methods*
  • Metalloproteins / chemistry
  • Methanol / chemistry
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Optical Rotation
  • Phosphorus / chemistry
  • Protons
  • Solutions / chemistry*
  • Solvents / chemistry

Substances

  • Bromobenzenes
  • Metalloproteins
  • Protons
  • Solutions
  • Solvents
  • Phosphorus
  • Fluorine
  • Carbon
  • bromobenzene
  • Methanol