With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multi-user (CRIF:MU) program, Professor Michael Tubergen and colleagues Nicola Brasch, Songping Huang, Anatoly Khitrin and Edgar Kooijman from Kent State University will acquire a console and two probes (3-channel self-tuning probe and a gradient probe for diffusion studies) to upgrade a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The award will enhance research training and education at all levels, especially in areas of study such as (a) reactions of vitamin B12 derivatives with nitric oxide species, (b) quantum amplification, multiple quantum techniques, and methods of adiabatic cross polarization, (c) protein-lipid interactions investigated using 31P and 1H single and multinuclear NMR, (d) designer MRI contrast agents from prussian blue analogues with high relaxivity for molecular and cellular imaging applications, (e) periodic mesoporous organosilicas, and (f) 19F analysis of liquid crystals and organic semiconductors.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, to follow the progress of chemical reactions, to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solids and in solution. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to carry out frontier chemistry related research and to train students in modern research techniques. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact on organic, materials, electronics and bioorganic chemistry research. The resources will be used not only for research activities but also for research training of undergraduate and graduate students including those from underrepresented groups.
NSF Award CHE-1048645 was used to purchase a new electronics console and control software for an Agilent 500-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer at Kent State University. Installation of the new hardware and software has been completed, and performance testing has ensured that the resolution and stability of the new console met the quoted specifications. The electronics of the new console interface correctly with a microimaging module that had been part of the previous NMR electronics configuration. Additional items of equipment (including an Agilent high-power proton preamplifier, a DOTY MAS speed controller, and a Parker-Balston nitrogen generator) were purchased and installed as further upgrades to the 500 MHz NMR spectrometer using funds awarded from the Ohio Board of Regents. The upgraded instrument has been used to develop new pulse sequences for improved magnetic resonance imaging, for new protocols to obtain NMR spectra of liquid mixtures without dilution, and for studies of the interactions between model peptide sequences and a lipid important for maintaining protein activity. Results from these studies have been published in the scientific literature and described in presentations at scientific conferences. The upgrades supported by the National Science Foundation ensure that the Department is able to use the 500-MHz NMR spectrometer in its mission to prepare undergraduate and graduate students in the acquisition and interpretation of data from a high-resolution NMR spectrometer. Undergraduate students in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory course at Kent State University use the 500-MHz NMR for the project "Pulsed-Field-Gradient Study of the Self-Diffusion of Water Molecules." Graduate students have received more in-depth training, and they have used the high-resolution NMR for their independent research projects. The faculty investigators involved with this grant have actively engaged undergraduate-student members of the Science Learning Community at Kent State University about opportunities to participate in research that involves the 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.
