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Sodium [13C]formate was successfully hyperpolarized using parahydrogen-induced polarization by means of side-arm hydrogenation (PHIP-SAH). Allyl [13C]formate was hyperpolarized using homogeneous hydrogenation of the corresponding unsaturated precursor (propargyl [13C]formate) in acetone-d6 with parahydrogen. The observed proton polarization was estimated as 16.6 ± 0.6 % while achieving 80 % chemical conversion. The 1H-to-13C polarization transfer was performed using magnetic field cycling. The highest observed polarization for 13C nuclei was estimated as 1.7 ± 0.2 % and was obtained at 250 nT polarization transfer magnetic field. We demonstrate that the 13C hyperpolarization is retained during the hydrolysis of allyl [13C]formate and hyperpolarized sodium [13C]formate was produced with P13C of 0.4 ± 0.1 %.

Hyperpolarization chemistry based on reversible exchange of parahydrogen, also known as Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange (SABRE), is a particularly simple approach to attain high levels of nuclear spin hyperpolarization, which can enhance NMR and MRI signals by many orders of magnitude. SABRE has received significant attention in the scientific community since its inception because of its relative experimental simplicity and its broad applicability to a wide range of molecules, however, in vivo detection of molecular probes hyperpolarized by SABRE has remained elusive. Here we describe a first demonstration of SABRE-hyperpolarized contrast detected in vivo, specifically using hyperpolarized [1–13C]pyruvate. Biocompatible formulations of hyperpolarized [1–13C]pyruvate in, both, methanol-water, and ethanol-water mixtures followed by dilution with saline and catalyst filtration were prepared and injected into healthy Sprague Dawley and Wistar rats. Effective hyperpolarization-catalyst removal was performed with silica filters without major losses in hyperpolarization. Metabolic conversion of pyruvate to lactate, alanine, and bicarbonate was detected in vivo. Pyruvate-hydrate was also observed as a minor byproduct. Measurements were performed on the liver and kidney at 4.7 T via time-resolved spectroscopy and chemical-shift-resolved MRI. In addition, whole-body metabolic measurements were obtained using a cryogen-free 1.5 T MRI system, illustrating the utility of combining lower-cost MRI systems with simple, low-cost hyperpolarization chemistry to develop safe and scalable molecular imaging.

Parahydrogen-Induced Polarization (PHIP) is NMR hyperpolarization technique that has matured from fundamental science to a biomedical tool for production of hyperpolarized MRI contrast agents. The spin order of nascent parahydrogen-derived protons can be employed directly for enhancement of their NMR signals or for polarization transfer to other nuclei in the hydrogenation product. In this work, we study the process of pairwise parahydrogen addition to propylene, which results in symmetric propane molecule with substantially enhanced methyl and methylene NMR signals. Specifically, we have synthesized site-selectively isotopically labeled 3-d-propylene molecule to study polarization dynamics in the resulting monodeuterated propane after pairwise parahydrogen addition. The deuterium presence in the hyperpolarized propane product results in a minute isotope chemical shift effect allowing to distinguish the proton resonances of CH3 and CH2D groups at 600 MHz. Pairwise parahydrogen 1,2-addition to 3-d-propylene was first confirmed by performing the reaction inside a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer, i.e., in the weakly-coupled regime at 14 T, where proton polarization dynamics is restricted to the molecular sites of parahydrogen addition. However, when the pairwise parahydrogen addition is performed in the strongly-coupled regime, i.e., at the Earth's magnetic field, efficient polarization transfer to CH2D protons is readily observed, leading to polarization redistribution between the three inequivalent sites. This finding is important as it sheds light on polarization dynamics in the strongly coupled symmetric spin systems such as propane studied here—the presented results are expected to be applicable to other spin systems such as butane.

A major challenge in cancer biology is to monitor and understand cancer metabolism in vivo with the goal of improved diagnosis and perhaps therapy. Because of the complexity of biochemical pathways, tracer methods are required for detecting specific enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Stable isotopes such as 13C or 15N with detection by nuclear magnetic resonance provide the necessary information about tissue biochemistry, but the crucial metabolites are present in low concentration and therefore are beyond the detection threshold of traditional magnetic resonance methods. A solution is to improve sensitivity by a factor of 10,000 or more by temporarily redistributing the populations of nuclear spins in a magnetic field, a process termed hyperpolarization. Although this effect is short-lived, hyperpolarized molecules can be generated in an aqueous solution and infused in vivo where metabolism generates products that can be imaged. This discovery lifts the primary constraint on magnetic resonance imaging for monitoring metabolism—poor sensitivity—while preserving the advantage of biochemical information. The purpose of this report was to briefly summarize the known abnormalities in cancer metabolism, the value and limitations of current imaging methods for metabolism, and the principles of hyperpolarization. Recent preclinical applications are described. Hyperpolarization technology is still in its infancy, and current polarizer equipment and methods are suboptimal. Nevertheless, there are no fundamental barriers to rapid translation of this exciting technology to clinical research and perhaps clinical care.