Further Information
NMR @ ITT
Brian A. Murray
NMR Spectroscopy is a major tool in analytical chemistry, and the Institute acquired a Jeol 300 MHz instrument in 1995. It is one of the college’s most expensive individual instruments, but also one of the most useful.
NMR stands for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and involves aligning the ‘spin’ of the nucleus of an atom (which behaves like a mini-magnet) by putting a sample in a strong magnetic field. The effect is similar to the way a compass needle aligns itself with the Earth’s field. The ‘spin’ can also be flipped by putting in energy (like turning a compass needle away from north). We use radio frequency just beyond the FM band to do this, hence the ‘300 MHz’ in the name.
When an unknown substance is studied, each type of nucleus shows a distinctive signal characteristic of its environment, allowing the substance to be identified. At the moment, we can look at hydrogen and carbon atoms, two elements that are abundant in organic chemicals, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, and biochemicals. An imminent upgrade will extend the elements we can look at to include boron, nitrogen, silicon, and phosphorus.
The instrument has had a major impact on undergraduate teaching, being used in over a dozen modules in chemistry and biology. Chemistry students are introduced to NMR in their diploma year. They enhance their skills during degree studies, identifying multi-functional organic compounds, supporting their "detective work" with other analytical techniques – e.g. infra-red and mass spectroscopy – and test-tube tests. NMR spectrometers are widely used in research, and are appearing more in industry as well, so our graduates are well prepared by such study.
The ready availability of sophisticated NMR techniques also has a major impact on the scope of our own research, and on our ability to compete for external funding. Postgraduate students and post-doctoral fellows routinely use the instrument, often as part of research funded as part of the NCSR (National Centre for Sensors Research), a joint DCU-ITT initiative supported by the Higher Education Authority.
Not everyone needs their own NMR. As part of the Institute mission to assist local small- to medium-sized enterprises, we also offer a commercial service, "NMR ITT!", with rapid sample turnaround. A similar service at a reduced rate is offered to bona fide external academic customers.
The instrument is jointly managed by Drs. Brian Murray and Bernie Creaven. A robotic sample system allows high throughput and "24/7" operation: the system often runs continuously for weeks at a time. A Variable Temperature facility allows experiments between –100 and +150 °C.
Further details on the external service are available from Brian (brian.murray@ittdublin.ie; 01-4042811).
