Funds are requested to purchase a 500 MHz NMR to replace the very old and Bruker DPX 300 MHz NMR at Polytechnic Institute of New York University?s (NYU-POLY). The instrument will have two radio-frequency channels, pulsed-field gradients, variable-temperature capability, two solution probes with automatic tune and match, and an autosampler. The current NMR needs replacement for the following reasons: i) it is very old, ii) its capabilities are severely limited, iii) the need for greater dispersion and sensitivity provided by higher field strength. The current NMR has no pulse field gradients and no ability to shape radio-frequency pulse and, as such, it cannot perform modern 2D experiments or modern solvent suppression echniques.Contemporary NMR methods are essential to research at NYU-POLY. Our current instrument is so old that spare parts are no longer available and the instrument will soon cease to function. Furthermore, its sensitivity is poor and the requested NMR will provide five times greater sensitivity. The proposed 500 MHz NMR with high dispersion and ability to perform modern 2D experiments will be an essential research tool to the proposal PI, Co-PI?s, their students (in total 9 High School, 18 undergrad, 21 MS, 27 Ph.D. and 5.5 postdoctoral fellows), and other faculty in the Polymer Research Institute (PRI), Departments of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Bioengineering.
This award supported the acquisition of a modern nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instrument for the identification and physical analysis of small molecules, proteins, polymers, and other compounds at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering (NYU-POLY). The instrument was installed in summer 2013. As the only one of its type at NYU-POLY, the NMR facility will continue to provide critical capabilities in years to come in support of scientific research and training of undergraduate and graduate students in the powerful technique of NMR spectroscopy. A large fraction of these users come from the local, urban surroundings of Brooklyn and the greater New York City area. The NMR instrument is located in a shared, multiple-user facility that was renovated to accommodate its use by researchers and educators. In its first year of existence, the facility supported research into new compounds for drug delivery and medical diagnostics, into polymers for display and lightning applications, into new biosynthetic and environmentally-friendly routes to materials for consumer products, into the structure and interactions of glycans and their impact on healing, and into small molecules involved in cancer. The spectrum of research themes will continue to broaden as additional users take advantage of the facility. Experiments to support coursework in analytical chemistry have also begun to be developed during this time, and are in the process of being introduced into undergraduate curricula.
