Slow relaxation of longitudinal multispin orders in weakly and strongly coupled two-spin systems

Longitudinal multispin order (LOMO) corresponds to a nonequilibrium population distribution in spin systems that exhibit scalar (J), dipolar, or quadrupolar coupling. We investigated the relaxation of longitudinal two-spin order (2-LOMO) in systems that had either weakly or strongly J-coupled spins. Our results indicated longer relaxation times for the 2-LOMO state compared with the corresponding longitudinal single-spin state (1-LOMO). Accessing nuclear spin states that have relaxation times longer than T1, without the use of external contrast agents, is potentially useful for in vivo imaging and also for studying systems using dynamically hyperpolarized nuclear spins where longer life times are sought to increase the time available to study (bio)chemical events. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.