Nicholas Drachman1, Stephen J. Kadlecek1, Yi Xin1, and Rahim R. Rizi1
We have shown that the kinetic rate of the production
of bicarbonate from pyruvate is heavily pH dependent. An increase in the rate
by a factor of ~10 can be achieved by maintaining the pH of the reaction always
above 10.3, the pKa of bicarbonate. This discovery will allow researchers to
quickly produce hyperpolarized bicarbonate to be used for in vivo pH mapping
experiments.
