NMR Spectroscopy is a frequently used analytical method in the Chemists’ toolbox. This information-rich tool allows a user to expose molecular structure by providing proof of the number, type and connectivity of the constituents making up a molecule.
For traditional superconducting spectrometers, access to this method is usually limited to a central NMR facility. With the addition of the NMReady benchtop NMR spectrometer, users can now have an extra layer of NMR workflow. While the benchtop NMR is not meant to substitute a high-field NMR spectrometer completely, there are many applications where benchtop NMR can be used to enhance daily productivity, streamline the process and lower costs.
Why Would You Use Benchtop NMR?
1) You need quantitative data. Fast.
NMR Spectroscopy is an inherently quantitative, linear method. This means that the relative integrations of resonances can be used to define absolute or relative molar ratios of the components in solution. NMR Spectroscopy can be a fast, easy and precise substitute to chromatographic techniques that normally consume large quantities of solvent and need long operational times.
2) Your high-field NMR spectrometer is always busy.
Users need to see if a reaction has ended, or if a product or reagent is clean, but there is no available time on the user’s high-field NMR spectrometer. The NMReady can easily be applied to these applications, and users can save queuing on the high-field for complete structural elucidation of new molecules.
3) You're spending a fortune on outsourcing analytical costs.
The NMReady is an affordable capital cost without any extra maintenance charges. It uses 5 mm NMR tubes, so users can easily make up samples, pre-screen them on the benchtop and outsource only samples that need more characterization and/or better resolution.
4) You need relaxation and speciation data.
Relaxometers are useful to define bulk properties of solutions (e.g., solid fat content (SFC), viscosity, moisture content, etc.), but along with these measurements users would also like to know about the chemical composition (e.g., unsaturated vs. saturated fatty acid compositions). NMReady resolves both requirements.
5) NMR has been recommended to you for routine analysis, but you're not an expert.
The NMReady can be easily configured into an ‘analyzer’ type mode from Nanalysis’ application programmatic interface (NMReady-CONNECT), where users can obtain data without having to understand or interpret the data they are viewing. This can be completed quantitatively or qualitatively.
6) You want to introduce a hands-on component to your students.
A person who has taught NMR Spectroscopy to undergraduates knows that it is primarily one of the hardest methods to comprehend. The inability of students to access traditional NMR spectrometers, which are normally allocated to more advanced researchers, make this method even more puzzling. The ability to let students make and run their samples, as early as their freshman year, can considerably help them handle the theory and application of this important analytical tool.
7) Your application would benefit from NMR Spectroscopy, but for logistical reasons, superconducting magnets are not feasible.
Size, capital cost, operating expenditures and infrastructure are the common limiting factors in the selection of a superconducting NMR system and prevent its use in an application. For instance, users may wish to monitor a process in the lab, in a glovebox or even on a process line using NMR Spectroscopy.
8) You really like NMR. Like Really. Really.
And have secretly wanted to own one to play with, design pulse sequences on, elucidate second order multiplicities with, etc....
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Nanalysis Corp.
For more information on this source, please visit Nanalysis Corp.