Ultrafast diffusion exchange nuclear magnetic resonance.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32591527.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-17079-7 and PMC identifier 7319991.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The exchange of molecules between different physical or chemical environments due to diffusion or chemical transformations has a crucial role in a plethora of fundamental processes such as breathing, protein folding, chemical reactions and catalysis. Here, we introduce a method for a single-scan, ultrafast NMR analysis of molecular exchange based on the diffusion coefficient contrast. The method shortens the experiment time by one to four orders of magnitude. Consequently, it opens the way for high sensitivity quantification of important transient physical and chemical exchange processes such as in cellular metabolism. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate that the method reveals the structure of aggregates formed by surfactants relevant to aerosol research.