What is NMR:
NMR is an abbreviation for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. It is based on the interaction of atoms with a magnetic field. Many types of atoms possess a nuclear magnetic moment and will act as a tiny bar magnet when placed in a magnetic field and line up either with or against the magnetic field. It turns out that the energy difference between these states corresponds to the radio frequency (RF) regime. If the nucleus is excited with RF while in the magnetic field, it will absorb at a specific radio frequency and an "NMR spectrum" is a plot of all the different radio frequencies absorbed by a sample. Each line or peak in the spectrum corresponds to a different atom in the sample. If you have a compound with 20 different protons in it, it will have a spectrum with 20 different peaks in it and each corresponds to a specific RF.
To record a spectrum, we use an NMR spectrometer which consists of three main parts - the magnet, the console which is used to generate radio frequencies and an RF probe which detects those radio frequencies that are being absorbed by the sample. The RF probe rests inside the magnet and has coils in it to pick up the radio frequencies from the sample much like a radio antennae picks up radio stations. The sample is inserted down into the magnet and sits at the center of the RF probe.
To get an RF signal from a sample, the NMR magnets must be very strong since the nuclear magnetic moment is so small. The larger the magnet, the more signal you get out. To get even more signal, we cool the RF probe to almost liquid helium temperatures. The quest for NMR manufacturers is to build bigger magnets and more sensitive equipment so that investigators can work with smaller quantities of sample.
What can be done the NMR Core:
small molecule characterization: spectra of small molecules in solution to confirm structure or to determine structure from scratch
quantitative analysis of metabolites: Quantitate the components of a mixture - metabolite quantitation from a variety of sample sources such as tissue, blood or urine ("metabolomics")
DOSY experiment to measure translational diffusion of macromolecules
Assign and determine the structure of small to medium-sized biomolecules (mainly proteins but nucleic acids and carbohydrates have been done)
Measure interactions between molecules (protein/ligand, protein/protein, etc.) to determine binding sites and affinity constant
Screen chemical libraries for binding to a macromolecule
Measure nuclear relaxation of molecules to determine dynamics at each nucleus on a wide range of timescales (from sub-nanosecond to many hours)
Time-dependent spectra to measure reaction kinetics
Isotope tracking to determine mechanism of chemical and enzyme reactions
See our publication page for examples of a wide variety of studies performed using the EinsteinNMR Resource: EinsteinNMR Publications
Quantity of material required and sample preparation:
Typically milligram quantities at natural abundance for small molecule studies
Tens of milligrams of isotope (13C and 15N) labeled biomolecules for assignments and structure
We can help you prepare the sample for NMR: provide appropriate deuterated solvent and nmr tubes
How to use the NMR Core:
Training for independent or guided use of all instruments
Assisted acquisition and interpretation of NMR spectra
Local computational resources and software for data processing and analysis
Rates are very reasonable and can be accessed here: Documents, Fees, Supplies and Services