Sequentially acquired two-dimensional NMR spectra from hyperpolarized sample

A scheme capable of acquiring heteronuclear 2D NMR spectra of hyperpolarized sample is described. Hyperpolarization, the preparation of nuclear spins in a polarized state far from thermal equilibrium, can increase the NMR signal by several orders of magnitude. It presents opportunities to apply NMR spectroscopy to dilute samples that would otherwise yield insufficient signal. However, conventional 2D NMR spectroscopy, which is commonly applied for the determination of molecular structure, relies on the recovery of the initial polarization after each transient. For this reason, it cannot be applied directly to a sample that has been hyperpolarized once. With appropriately modified pulse schemes, two-dimensional NMR spectra an however be acquired sequentially by utilizing a small portion of the hyperpolarized signal in every scan, while keeping the remaining polarization for future scans. We present heteronuclear multi-quantum spectra of single hyperpolarized samples using this technique, and discuss different options for distributing the polarization among different scans. This robust method takes full advantage of Fourier NMR to resolve overlapping chemical shifts, and may prove particularly useful for the structural elucidation of compounds in mass-limited samples.