First determination of the spin relaxation properties of a nitronyl nitroxide in solution by electron spin echoes at X-band: A comparison with Tempone

Published: Wednesday, 10 October 2012 - 19:46 UTC

Author:

This article describes no DNP results. However, it can be still of interest for the solution-state DNP community since it discusses relaxation times of nitroxide spin-labels.

Collauto, A., A. Barbon, and M. Brustolon, First determination of the spin relaxation properties of a nitronyl nitroxide in solution by electron spin echoes at X-band: A comparison with Tempone. J. Magn. Reson., 2012. 223(0): p. 180-186.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmr.2012.07.011

We studied by electron spin echo pulse methods the spin relaxation properties of a phenyl nitronyl nitroxide radical (2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl 3-oxide, PTIO) at X-band in fluid toluene solution in a wide temperature range, and in a water/glycerol 1:1 mixture near room temperature. The relaxation properties of PTIO have been compared with that of Tempone, as a widely used nitroxide. By a new procedure, based on experimental results on the temperature dependences of the relaxation times T1 and T2, and on the approximation of an isotropic Brownian rotational diffusion, we separated non-secular, spin rotational and residual terms from the transverse relaxation rate to isolate secular and pseudosecular contributions. By comparing the results for the two radicals we found the differences in the magnetic properties that give rise to slower transverse (T2) and longitudinal (T1) electron spin relaxation for PTIO in the whole temperature range explored in this work.