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New NMR "spectacles" for southern African scientists

Engela Duvenhage

Photo: Engela Duvenage

Africa's first wide-bore magnet solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) system was installed at Stellenbosch University (SU) last month.

The R7.7 million 500 MHz Varian Solid State NMR facility was officially opened at a special function attended by SU researchers and administrators, representatives from sponsors Sasol, as well as suppliers SMM Instruments and Varian.

The new system, housed in the SU's Central Analytical Facility, will boost chemical and polymer science research in the development of new materials, products and processes.

The new spectrometer will compliment the existing three liquid-state NMR systems (300, 400 and 600 MHz) in the NMR laboratory, making it one of the best equipped NMR laboratories at an academic institution on the continent.

This cutting edge research capacity supports numerous SU, regional and national research programmes in the molecular sciences.

The equipment was acquired with the financial support of the National Research Foundation (NRF), Sasol and the SU.

The opening function was followed by a weeklong Royal Society of Chemistry/SA Institute of Chemistry sponsored Solid-State NMR Workshop presented by experts from the United Kingdom, the USA and Hungary, which was attended by 60 chemists, technicians and other scientists from across the country.

"We celebrate the fact that our NMR laboratory has acquired an additional pair of 'spectacles' with which to probe and inspect the myriad of new substances that regularly pass through our hands," said Prof Klaus Koch of the SU Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science.

High resolution NMR spectroscopy is considered to be the pre-eminent spectroscopic tool for structure elucidation of molecules in solution, ranging from simple small molecules to large macromolecules such as proteins, complex carbohydrates and synthetic polymers consisting of hundreds of thousands of atoms. The fundamental principles of this technique were developed in the 1950s. It has since developed into one of the most powerful molecular spectroscopic tools available having revolutionised the elucidation of the structure of useful substances, which can now be done in minutes.

Thanks to this non-destructive technique, structural information about molecules can be obtained as a result of the specific 'resonance frequencies' of NMR active nuclei such as 1H and 13C, which are present in virtually all organic and organometallic molecules. Skilled chemists interpret the characteristic 'peaks' of compounds at particular frequencies in an NMR spectrum to obtain detailed information on the structure, dynamics and three-dimensional topology of the constituent molecules.

"It enables us to reveal the structure of useful substances in a matter of minutes, which decades ago, could take years to do," says Prof Koch. "In the nineteenth century, it took some 75 years to elucidate the structure of the familiar substance ASPRIN; today, an undergraduate student can do this in a matter of minutes with the aid of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy".

The acquisition of the new spectrometer dedicated to examining the molecular structure and properties of molecules in the solid state, offers exciting new avenues of research not previously possible in South Africa. Before, it was only possible to examine soluble samples by means of NMR in South Africa due to a lack of the appropriate equipment.

"It was only until about two decades ago, that 'chemist friendly' commercial Solid State NMR systems became available," Prof Koch explains. "This means that the molecules chemists and polymer scientists wish to study, do not necessarily have to be in solution to be examined by NMR techniques."
"With this new system, we are all on a very steep, but exciting learning curve," Prof Koch says about the demanding technique.

The system will enable the detailed study of numerous insoluble crystalline and amorphous substances such as polymers, alumino-silicate materials such as zeolytes and other heterogeneous catalysts, platinum metal complexes with medicinal properties, as well as other materials being explored within the departmental and regional research programs.

"It is hoped that expertise in this demanding form of NMR spectroscopy will develop and grow, to underpin research and development so sorely needed in South Africa, and to contribute to new high-level skills development for economic prosperity," Prof Koch says.

More information:

Ms Jean McKenzie 
(021) 808 3338 kmck@sun.ac.za 
For media enquiries:
Prof Klaus Koch, Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, Stellenbosch University 
krk@sun.ac.za   (021) 808 3020 

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