Modern solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy offers the chemist one of the most powerful tools available for the study of the physical and chemical properties of materials. Fundamental knowledge of structure and dynamics of materials as diverse as biopolymers, resins, coals, and liquid crystals is accessible by solid-state NMR techniques. Solid-state NMR studies often complement those carried out using solution NMR and X-ray analysis. Access to solid-state NMR is rapidly becoming essential to chemists carrying out frontier research. This award from the Chemistry and Material Research Shared Instrumentation Programs will help the Department of Chemistry at the University of California at Irvine, purchase a wide bore 300 MHz NMR spectrometer for solid-state NMR studies. The areas of chemical reserach that will be enhanced by the acquisition include the following: 1. Studies of solid yttrium and lanthanide metal alkoxide complexes 2. Characterization of modified silica surfaces and novel and high modulus elastomers 3. The molecular details of small molecule binding to polymer surfaces 4. An analysis of the morphology of hybrid organo-silicates. 5. New techniques for acquiring NMR data for purposes of en- hancing signal intensity, spectral and spatial resolution of nuclei in solids.
