Sensitivity enhancement methods experiment

The INEPT (Insensitive Nuclei Enhanced by Polarization Transfer) experiment [6, 7] was the first broadband pulsed experiment for polarization transfer between heteronuclei, and has been extensively used for sensitivity enhancement and for spectral editing. For spectral editing purposes in carbon-13 NMR, more recent experiments such as DEPT, SEMUT [8] and their various enhancements [9] are usually preferable, but because of its brevity and simplicity INEPT remains the method of choice for many applications in sensitivity enhancement, and as a building block in complex pulse sequences with multiple polarization transfer steps. The potential utility of INEPT in inverse mode experiments, in which polarization is transferred from a low magnetogyric ratio nucleus to protons, was recognized quite early [10]. The principal advantage of polarization transfer over methods such as heteronuclear spin echo difference spectroscopy is the scope it offers for presaturation of the unwanted proton signals, which allows clean spec-... 

A variety of sequences exist, which differ with respect to the detected interaction ( J, or Jx ) and the mode of detection ( C or H detected, magnitude or phased mode, phase cycling or gradients for coherence selection). In view of the reduced sensitivity of heteronudear experiments with respect to homonuclear COSY experiments and the steadily decreasing sample amounts submitted for NMR experiments, there is no doubt that the inverse ( H) detected, gradient enhanced experiments are currently the best methods to apply. However on older type spectrometers, not equipped for inverse detection the old-fashioned direct C detected experiments are still in use. 

The second (sine) term produced by the evolution delay has all the information we need—it is antiphase 13C coherence labeled with the 13C chemical shift in t —but it is lost because its phase (S ) causes it to be unaffected by the 90° 13C pulse at the end of t. Effectively we are throwing away half of our signal at this point. A new method was developed to save this wasted signal and boost the sensitivity of HSQC and many other experiments. These modified pulse sequences are called sensitivity enhanced or sensitivity improved (Bruker adds si to the pulse sequence name) and the strategy is called preservation of equivalent pathways (PEP) because the two terms are equivalent except for their phase. 

Other strategies that show great promise in reducing NMR acquisition time utilise methods to obtain multiple sets of data from one experiment through a concept known as time-shared evolution. An example of this process that should find utility in natural products elucidation was demonstrated by a pulse sequence called CN-HMBC.93 Traditionally, a separate 13C-HMBC and 15N-HMBC were acquired independently. However, the CN-HMBC allows both 13C- and 15N-HMBC spectra to be obtained simultaneously. By acquiring both data sets simultaneously, an effective 50% time reduction can be achieved.93 This approach has also been demonstrated for a sensitivity-enhanced 2D HSQC-TOCSY (heteronuclear multiple bond correlation total correlation spectroscopy) and HSQMBC (heteronuclear single quantum... 

The projection-reconstruction approach is a technique unrelated to covariance processing which can provide data typically inaccessible to the natural product chemist. For example, 13C-15N correlation spectra were obtained for vitamin B12 at natural abundance.104 Compared with a conventional three-dimensional 13C-15N correlation experiment, the projection-reconstruction method provides a sensitivity enhancement of two orders of magnitude. The final 13C-15N spectrum was reconstructed from data obtained from ll l5N and H- C correlations acquired using a time-shared evolution pulse sequence that allowed all the information to be obtained in one experiment.104 Martin and co-workers also demonstrated the ability to generate 13C-15N correlation spectra using unsymmetrical indirect covariance NMR with vinblastine as an example.105 In the latter case, 13C-15N correlation spectra were obtained from - C HSQC data and H-1sN HMBC data that were acquired separately. Both methods provide access to correlations that would be inaccessible for most natural products at natural abundance. 

A fundamentally different approach to signal excitation is present in polarization transfer methods. These rely on the existence of a resolvable J coupling between two nuclei, one of which (normally the proton) serves as a polarization source for the other. The earliest of these type of experiments were the SPI (Selective Population Inversion) type (19>) in which low-power selective pulses are applied to a specific X-satellite in the proton spectrum for an X-H system. The resultant population inversion produces an enhanced multiplet in the X spectrum if detection follows the inversion. A basic improvement which removes the need for selective positioning of the proton frequency was the introduction of the INEPT (Insensitive Nucleus Excitation by Polarization Transfer) technique by Morris and Freeman (20). This technique uses strong non-selective pulses and gives general sensitivity enhancement. 

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