Alexander Pines, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, passed away on November 2, 2024.

Alexander Pines was a leading researcher in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, focusing on techniques for non-liquid samples that helped shape modern solid-state NMR. He introduced methods such as cross-polarisation NMR for detecting dilute spins such as carbon-13, which greatly increased sensitivity in solid samples. His work also pioneered multiple quantum spectroscopy and zero-field NMR, extending the applications of NMR in chemistry.

Alexander Pines’ later research focused on extending the capabilities of NMR and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) through innovations such as laser-polarised xenon for improved imaging and miniaturised NMR/MRI devices for microfluidic studies. He also contributed to mobile NMR, ultra-low field NMR, and functionalised biosensors, making NMR tools more versatile across disciplines.

 

Alexander Pines, born in 1945, studied chemistry and mathematics at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, earning his Ph.D. in chemical physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA in 1972 and joined the UC Berkeley faculty later that year.

Among many other honors, Alexander Pines received the Faraday Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in 2004, the F. A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1999,  the Wolf Prize for Chemistry (together with Richard R. Ernst) in 1991, and the Langmuir Medal of the American Physical Society (APS) in 1998.

 

Selected Publications

• Jin-sil Choi, Soojin Kim, Dongwon Yoo, Tae-Hyun Shin, Hoyoung Kim, Muller D. Gomes, Sun Hee Kim, Alexander Pines, Jinwoo Cheon, Distance-dependent magnetic resonance tuning as a versatile MRI sensing platform for biological-targets, Nature Materials 2017, 16, 537–542. https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT4846
• Krishnan K. Palaniappan, Matthew B. Francis, Alexander Pines, David E. Wemmer, Molecular Sensing Using Hyperpolarized Xenon NMR Spectroscopy, Israel Journal of Chemistry 2014, 54, 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijch.201300128
• Mikhail G. Shapiro, R. Matthew Ramirez, Lindsay J. Sperling, George Sun, Jinny Sun, Alexander Pines, David V. Schaffer, Vikram S. Bajaj, Genetically encoded reporters for hyperpolarized xenon magnetic resonance imaging, Nature Chemistry 2014, 6, 629–634. https://doi.org/10.1038/NCHEM.1934
• Krishnan K. Palaniappan, R. Matthew Ramirez, Vikram S. Bajaj, David E. Wemmer, Alexander Pines, Matthew B. Francis, Molecular Imaging of Cancer Cells Using a Bacteriophage‐Based 129Xe NMR Biosensor, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2013, 52, 4849–4853. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201300170
• Franz Schilling, Leif Schröder, Krishnan K. Palaniappan, Sina Zapf, David E. Wemmer, Alexander Pines, MRI Thermometry Based on Encapsulated Hyperpolarized Xenon, ChemPhysChem 2010, 11, 3529–3533. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201000507
• Leif Schröder, Lana Chavez, Tyler Meldrum, Monica Smith, Thomas J. Lowery, David E. Wemmer, Alexander Pines, Temperature‐Controlled Molecular Depolarization Gates in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2008, 47, 4316–4320. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200800382
• Louis-S. Bouchard, Scott R. Burt, M. Sabieh Anwar, Kirill V. Kovtunov, Igor V. Koptyug, Alexander Pines, NMR Imaging of Catalytic Hydrogenation in Microreactors with the Use of para-Hydrogen, Science 2008, 319, 442–445. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1151787
• Louis‐S. Bouchard, Kirill V. Kovtunov, Scott R. Burt, M. Sabieh Anwar, Igor V. Koptyug, Renad Z. Sagdeev, Alexander Pines, Para‐Hydrogen‐Enhanced Hyperpolarized Gas‐Phase Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
  Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2007, 46, 4064–4068. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200700830
• Igor V. Koptyug, Kirill V. Kovtunov, Scott R. Burt, M. Sabieh Anwar, Christian Hilty, Song-I Han, Alexander Pines, Renad Z. Sagdeev, para-Hydrogen-Induced Polarization in Heterogeneous Hydrogenation Reactions, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2007, 129, 5580–5586. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja068653o
• Leif Schröder, Thomas J. Lowery, Christian Hilty, David E. Wemmer, Alexander Pines, Molecular Imaging Using a Targeted Magnetic Resonance Hyperpolarized Biosensor, Science 2006, 314, 446–449. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1131847