Singlet order conversion and parahydrogen-induced hyperpolarization of 13C nuclei in near-equivalent spin systems

We have demonstrated two radiofrequency pulse methods which convert the nuclear singlet order of proton spin pairs into the magnetisation of nearby 13C nuclei. These irradiation schemes work well in the near-equivalence regime of the three-spin system, which applies when the difference in the two 1H-13C couplings is much smaller than the 1H-1H coupling. We use pulse sequences to generate thermally polarized singlet states in a reproducible manner, and study the singlet-to-magnetisation transfer step. Preliminary results demonstrate a parahydrogen-enhanced 13C polarization level of at least 9%, providing a signal enhancement factor of more than 9000, using 50% enriched parahydrogen.