High-performance solvent suppression for proton detected solid-state NMR

High-sensitivity proton detected experiments in solid-state NMR have been recently demonstrated in proton diluted proteins as well as fully protonated samples under fast magic-angle spinning. One key element for performing successful proton detection is effective solvent suppression achieved by pulsed field gradients (PFG) and/or saturation pulses. Here we report a high-performance solvent suppression method that attenuates multiple solvent signals simultaneously by more than a factor of 10,000, achieved by an optimized combination of homospoil gradients and supercycled saturation pulses. This method, which we call Multiple Intense Solvent Suppression Intended for Sensitive Spectroscopic Investigation of Protonated Proteins, Instantly (MISSISSIPPI), can be applied without a PFG probe. It opens up new opportunities for two-dimensional heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy of hydrated proteins at natural abundance as well as high-sensitivity and multi-dimensional experimental investigation of protein-solvent interactions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.