WSU chemistry group proposes a new use for diethyl ether

Wayne State University's Department of Chemistry's Chekmenev Lab has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH)
R21 grant to develop highly magnetized diethyl ether gas via pairwise addition of parahydrogen gas to vinyl ether.

The proposed low-cost and high-throughput technology by Dr. Eduard Chekmenev for clinical-scale production of hyperpolarized diethyl ether can be employed for sub-second gas pulmonary MRI, which is envisioned as a novel inhalable contrast agent for functional regional mapping of lung function in a wide range of lung diseases without the use of ionizing radiation.