With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota in Duluth will acquire a 500 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) Spectrometer. This equipment will enable researchers to carry out studies on a) the characterization of relatively small molecules prepared in organic, inorganic and organometallic synthetic studies; and b) structural biochemical studies, such as the study of protein kinase inhibitors from natural products and the elucidation of the folding pathway of cytochrome c.
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 characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solution. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact in synthetic chemistry and biochemistry.
