Generation of Hyperpolarized Substrates by Secondary Labelling with [1,1- 13C] Acetic Anhydride

David M. Wilson¹, Ralph E. Hurd², Albert P. Chen², Mark Van Criekinge¹, Kayvan Keshari¹, Sarah J. Nelson¹, Daniel B. Vigneron¹, John Kurhanewicz¹

Hyperpolarized [1,1-13C] acetic anhydride was used to achieve rapid, high SNR analysis of amino acid mixtures and to perform secondary polarization of other biomolecules in solution. This electrophile can be well polarized (6%), has a relatively long T1 relaxation time (33.9s at 11.7T), and preferentially reacts with amine nucleophiles in aqueous solution. This approach was used to reproducibly and near-quantitatively (mean yield – 89.8%) resolve a mixture of amino acids Gly, Ser, Val, Leu, and Ala, with a signal enhancement of up to 1400 fold. The method can also be used to create a hyperpolarized low molecular weight drug like acetylcysteine.