Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center serves a large community of users within the Department of Chemistry, other on-campus departments and industrial companies.
The NMR Facility is located in the Temple Building and has two NMR spectrometers:
- Bruker NanoBay AVANCE III 400 MHz NMR spectrometer
- AVANCE III 600 MHz
The spectrometers operate on a 24/7 basis, with fully open access. After preliminary operational training, users are granted permission to perform experiments on their own. The investigator should be familiar with the advantages of each instrument in order to make intelligent choices about the most appropriate instrument to use.
Users who have submitted a User Authorization and Request for NMR Training and have been trained by the director of the facility may reserve time from the schedule. You will need an active account so that you can log on to a spectrometer. An account is set up for each research group in the spectrometers. Please read the NMR Policies for more information.
For those who wish to use the facility but do not yet have an account or have not been instructed in the use of the equipment, an account and free training sessions may be arranged by contacting NMR Facility Director Yun Qu, Ph.D., at yqu@vcu.edu.
You can schedule your NMR time by logging into RAMS-FORCE. For general operation hours, please see below.
Schedule
400 MHz NMR
- Monday - Friday, 9 a.m - 5 p.m.: Maximum is two hours or eight slots/user (fifteen minutes/slot), reserve within one week. Cancellation must be made at least one hour in advance.
- Monday - Thursday, 5 p.m. - 9 a.m.: reserve within two weeks. Cancellation must be made at least four hours in advance.
- Weekends and holidays: Reserve within a month. Cancellation must be made at least twenty four hours in advance.
Non-standard experiments (VT work, exotic nuclei, 2D/3D) requiring more than one dedicated day must be scheduled with the NMR facility director two weeks in advance.
600 MHz NMR
- In order for the high-end instrument to effectively service faculty and students with their research needs and benefit both the chemistry department and the greater VCU community, the training and usage on the 600 MHz NMR will be based on individual requests with information concerning the research sample and project as a whole.
- Please email the NMR facility director if you need to use the 600 MHz NMR for discussions concerning your project and to schedule training.
If you reserve time, it is your responsibility to be there during that time and finish at the proper time unless problems are encountered. If you cannot be present for your reserved time, it is your responsibility to cancel on time. Non-cancelations or late cancellations will be charged to your account.
Training, Equipment and Guides
In general, each prospective user must consult with the NMR facilities director before using any of the NMR spectrometers. Individuals who have not used our spectrometers before will be asked to go through a standard training procedure for 1D NMR (outlined below). Please also complete the User Authorization and Request for NMR Training for training. After completing and passing training, users are granted permission to perform experiments on their own. Only then will access to NMR spectrometers be granted. Once you have successfully obtained the “routine, 1D spectrum,” you have paved your way leading to other advanced applications.
- Request and Schedule Training
The training is offered each week from Monday to Friday. Please complete a User Authorization and Request for NMR Training form and return it to the NMR facility director. You are encouraged not to start training until you plan to start using the spectrometers for research. - Study the Basics
Please read the NMR 400 Instructions ahead of the training. If you have never used an NMR spectrometer before or you do not understand at all about NMR spectroscopy, read an introductory book or article or speak to someone who has experience or knowledge. - Session
Each training session is about 30-45 minutes. Training is done individually, on a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer with a user-provided sample and user research group account only. The training content and pace can be adjusted to users with different experiences. During the first training session, you will learn to operate the NMR spectrometer and obtain a 1-D 1H spectrum. The next training session will be scheduled after that. The training will continue until you meet the requirements; the average is about three training sessions for each person. Training/assistance is provided until the user feels comfortable running the spectrometer. - Meet the Requirements
You need to be able to obtain a good 1-D 1H spectrum of the test sample in fifteen minutes. The plot should include the following:- A chemical shift scale in ppm correctly referenced to TMS or deuterium solvent
- Integration (use Part Integrals) over various peaks
- Peak frequencies
After you pass the test or meet the requirements, your access to the NMR scheduler and the 400 MHz NMR instrument will be granted. You can reserve NMR time from the schedule page, and use your password to log on to the NMR instrument. Please learn the NMR Policies. Individuals with experience level of 1D NMR who want to have training on 2D/3D NMR or other applications, please contact the NMR facility director.
Bruker NanoBay AVANCE III 400 MHz NMR spectrometer
- ASCEND Advanced magnet
- 2 5mm Multinuclear broadband probes, BBFO and iProbe
- 16 samples Autosampler
- Temperature range: r.t. – 80 oC
- Two RF channels
- 2-D capabilities
Bruker AVANCE III 600 MHz NMR spectrometer
- Ultra shielded magnet
- 5mm inverse quadruple resonance (QXI) probe
- 5mm multinuclear broadband observe (BBO) probe
- Temperature range: 5 °C-80 °C
- Four RF channels
- 3-D capabilities