Cross correlation between the dipole-dipole interaction and the Curie spin relaxation: the effect of anisotropic magnetic susceptibility.

Cross-correlated relaxation caused by the interference of nuclear dipole-dipole interaction and the Curie spin relaxation (DD-CSR cross relaxation) is generalized to treat the case of anisotropic magnetic susceptibility, including the important case where the latter originates from zero-field splitting. It is shown that the phenomenon of DD-CSR cross relaxation is absolutely general and to be expected under any electronic configuration. The results of the generalization are presented for a model system, and the consequences for paramagnetic metalloproteins are illustrated with an example of cerium(III)-substituted calbindin. The effects of the magnetic anisotropy are found to be substantial. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.