Speeding up Biomimetic Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

The crystallization of minerals is an important natural process involved, for example, in the formation of bone, teeth or carapace. However, our understanding of the underlying processes at the atomic and molecular level is still incomplete. This remains to be the case even if it would be quite useful to gain deeper insights into these processes in order to, e.g. optimize bone prosthetics or to develop new functional materials. The project "Biomimetic nuclear magnetic resonance" aims to deepen this understanding of mineralization by developing methods that allow one to follow such processes in a time-resolved manner at the molecular level. NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) is one of the most important methods for determining the structures of molecules in solution, albeit limited time resolution. In order to enable real-time monitoring of processes based on NMR spectroscopy, the project aims to develop a new method based on hyperpolarization techniques (more precisely through dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization, short D-DNP) that can provide 10.000-fold signal amplifications for NMR measurements. This enables tracking of molecular processes in a time-resolved manner. The principle is: The stronger a signal, the shorter it has to be observed for a measurement. Thus, if the time per NMR measurement can be reduced, it will be possible to quickly and successively detect series of spectra, which in turn enables time resolution." With this, D-DNP enables monitoring of fast processes - even in the millisecond range while simultaneously distinguishing individual atoms. A special focus of the project lies on understanding biomineralization processes and their initial stages. Biomineralization denotes the ability of living organisms to produce solid materials. For such process, for example in bone formation events, precursors of crystallization nuclei emerge within milliseconds when calcium and phosphate ions meet in solution. These species, which appear at the beginning of the crystallization process, are to be characterized analytically in the project and observed with high- resolution methods in order to comprehensively describe biominerals and their underlying chemical processes with new insights and technologies. The project aims, e.g. at clarifying whether the size of the newly discovered precursor species can be controlled and whether it can influence the hardness or brittleness of the macroscopic material that will be emerge through the mineralization process. In addition, a contribution is envisaged to a long-standing dispute about the theory behind biomineralization, i.e. to clarify whether the crystallization seed precursors fir in the classic theoretical framework of mineralization that has been developed over decades or if new non-classical theories need to be devised.

The crystallization of minerals is an important natural process, for example in the formation of bones, teeth, or animal shells. However, our understanding of the underlying processes at the atomic and molecular level remains incomplete. This is despite the fact that gaining deeper insights into these processes would be beneficial-for instance, to optimize bone prostheses or to develop new functional materials. The project "Biomimetic Nuclear Magnetic Resonance" aims to deepen our understanding of mineralization by developing methods that allow such processes to be tracked in real time at the molecular level. NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) is one of the most important techniques for determining the structure of molecules in solution, though it has limited time resolution. To enable real-time observation of processes based on NMR spectroscopy, the project aims to develop a new method using so-called hyperpolarization-specifically, dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (D-DNP)-which allows up to a 10,000-fold signal enhancement in NMR measurements. This enhancement makes it possible to monitor molecular processes with time resolution. The underlying principle is: "The stronger a signal, the shorter the time needed to observe it in a measurement. So if the time per NMR measurement can be reduced, rapid measurement series become possible, which in turn enables time resolution." D-DNP thus makes it possible to follow fast processes-even those occurring in the millisecond range-while distinguishing individual atoms. A special focus of the project is to understand biomineralization processes and their initial stages. Biomineralization is the ability of living organisms to produce solid materials. In such processes-for example, during bone formation-precursors of crystallization nuclei form within milliseconds, for instance when calcium and phosphate ions come into contact in solution. These species, which occur at the onset of the crystallization process, are to be analytically characterized and observed using high-resolution methods, in order to describe biominerals and the underlying chemical processes more comprehensively with new insights and technology. One aim, for example, is to determine whether the size of these newly discovered precursor species can be controlled, and whether this in turn can influence the hardness or brittleness of the resulting macroscopic material. In addition, the project seeks to contribute to a longstanding debate over the theory of biomineralization-specifically, whether these precursors to crystallization nuclei fit within the classical theoretical framework of mineralization developed over decades, or whether new, non-classical theories need to be formulated.