New, ultrasmall nanoparticles with sizes below 5 nm have been obtained. These small rigid platforms (SRP) are composed of a polysiloxane matrix with DOTAGA (1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1-glutaric anhydride-4,7,10-triacetic acid)-Gd(3+) chelates on their surface. They have been synthesised by an original top-down process: 1) formation of a gadolinium oxide Gd2O3 core, 2) encapsulation in a polysiloxane shell grafted with DOTAGA ligands, 3) dissolution of the gadolinium oxide core due to chelation of Gd(3+) by DOTAGA ligands and 4) polysiloxane fragmentation. These nanoparticles have been fully characterised using photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to demonstrate the dissolution of the oxide core and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), mass spectrometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, (29)Si solid-state NMR, (1)H NMR and diffusion ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) to determine the nanoparticle composition. Relaxivity measurements gave a longitudinal relaxivity r1 of 11.9 s(-1)  mM(-1) per Gd at 60 MHz. Finally, potentiometric titrations showed that Gd(3+) is strongly chelated to DOTAGA (complexation constant logβ110 =24.78) and cellular tests confirmed the that nanoconstructs had a very low toxicity. Moreover, SRPs are excreted from the body by renal clearance. Their efficiency as contrast agents for MRI has been proved and they are promising candidates as sensitising agents for image-guided radiotherapy.

Diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY NMR) is shown to be an excellent tool for observing reactive transients in the hydrolysis of the phosphatase model substrate (p-nitrophenyl)phosphate (NPP) promoted by polyoxomolybdate.

The self-aggregation and supramolecular micellar structure of two surfactants in aqueous solution, the anionic surfactant SDP2S (sodium dodecyl dioxyethylene-2 sulfate) and the nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 (octylphenol-polyoxyethylene ether with 9.5 ethoxy groups), were investigated by NMR spectroscopy. The critical micellar concentration (CMC), the size, and shape of the aggregates were determined by diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY), while 2D NOESY NMR spectra were used to study the mutual spatial arrangement of surfactant molecules in the aggregated state. A nonlinear increase of the micellar hydrodynamic radius, indicating possible sphere-to-rod shape transition, was found for SDP2S at higher surfactant concentrations. Triton X-100 micelles were found to be almost spherical at low surfactant concentrations, but formation of ellipsoid shaped particles and/or micellar aggregation was observed at higher concentrations. The NOESY data show that at low concentration Triton X-100 forms a two-layer spherical structure in the micelles, with partially overlapping internal and external layers of Triton X-100 molecules and no distinct hydrophilic-hydrophobic boundary.