Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a fundamental spectroscopic technique for the study of biological systems and materials, molecular imaging and the analysis of small molecules. It detects interactions at very low energies and is thus non-invasive and applicable to a variety of targets, including animals and humans. However, one of its most severe limitations is its low sensitivity, which stems from the small interaction energies involved. Here, we report that dynamic nuclear polarization in liquid solution and at room temperature can enhance the NMR signal of C nuclei by up to three orders of magnitude at magnetic fields of ∼3 T. The experiment can be repeated within seconds for signal averaging, without interfering with the sample magnetic homogeneity. The method is therefore compatible with the conditions required for high-resolution NMR. Enhancement ofC signals on various organic compounds opens up new perspectives for dynamic nuclear polarization as a general tool to increase the sensitivity of liquid NMR.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques play an essential role in natural science and medicine. In spite of the tremendous utility associated with the small energies detected, the most severe limitation is the low signal‐to‐noise ratio. Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), a technique based on transfer of polarization from electron to nuclear spins, has emerged as a tool to enhance sensitivity of NMR. However, the approach in liquids still faces several challenges. Herein we report the observation of room‐temperature, liquid DNP 13C signal enhancements in organic small molecules as high as 600 at 9.4 Tesla and 800 at 1.2 Tesla. A mechanistic investigation of the 13C‐DNP field dependence shows that DNP efficiency is raised by proper choice of the polarizing agent (paramagnetic center) and by halogen atoms as mediators of scalar hyperfine interaction. Observation of sizable DNP of 13CH2 and 13CH3 groups in organic molecules at 9.4 T opens perspective for a broader application of this method.

Polarization transfer efficiency in liquid-state dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) depends on the interaction between polarizing agents (PAs) and target nuclei modulated by molecular motions. We show how translational and rotational diffusion differently affect the DNP efficiency. These contributions were disentangled by measuring 1 H-DNP enhancements of toluene and chloroform doped with nitroxide derivatives at 0.34 T as a function of either the temperature or the size of the PA. The results were employed to analyze 13