Imaging tumoral pH may help to characterize aggressiveness, metastasis, and therapeutic response. We report the development of hyperpolarized [2-13C,D10]diethylmalonic acid, which exhibits a large pH-dependent 13C chemical shift over the physiological range. We demonstrate that co-polarization with [1-13C,D9]tert-butanol accurately measures pH via13C NMR and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in phantoms.
