SABRE Ir-IMes Catalysis for the Masses

The Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange (SABRE) technique provides enhancement of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) signals up to several orders of magnitude using chemical exchange of a substrate and parahydrogen on an iridium complex. Therefore, the availability of such a catalytic complex to a broader community is an absolutely vital step for dissemination of the groundbreaking SABRE methodology. The most common SABRE catalyst, which is activated in situ, is based on Ir-IMes system (IMes = 1,3-Bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene). Earlier approaches for the synthesis of this catalyst often relied on specialized equipment and were limited to a comparatively small scale. This, in turn, increased the barrier of entry for new scientists to the area of SABRE hyperpolarization. Here, we present a robust, inexpensive, and easy to reproduce synthetic procedure for the preparation of this SABRE catalyst, which does not require specialized inert atmosphere equipment like a glove box or Schlenk line. The synthesis was validated on the scale of several grams vs. tens of milligrams scale in the reported approaches. The resulting SABRE catalyst, [Ir(IMes)(COD)Cl], was activated in situ and further evaluated in hyperpolarization experiments resulting in signal enhancements comparable to (or higher than) those for the catalyst prepared using Schlenk line equipment.