Chestnut Hill, Mass. (October 2009) – More than $1.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Energy and Boston College has transformed the Chemistry Department's Center for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, a cornerstone of chemistry research on campus.
NMR spectrometry is the workhorse of any chemistry department – be it in the academic or industrial sector – a facility that gives chemists the powerful analytical tools they need to determine the identity of molecules, as well as the structural parameters of highly complex molecules.
"The transformation of the center makes us a cutting edge research facility," said John G. Boylan, the center director. "Our students and researchers are using the most modern equipment available."
The center is used by nearly every scientist -- from Chemistry faculty to post-doctoral fellows to graduate students to undergraduates.
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John Boylan, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center Director The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Instrumentation Facility at Boston College operates and maintains four Varian high-field NMR spectrometers. |
The overhaul of the facility included the installation of new and upgraded NMR spectrometers, including a new state-of-the art 600 MHz spectrometer for bio-molecular systems, according to Boylan.
The large tank-like spectrometers use magnetic coils submerged in liquid helium to coax a resonance frequency from the magnetic nuclei of elements such as hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon. The profiles created by the resonance frequencies allow scientists to establish molecular purity, verify experimental data and support their reporting of research results.
The center's upgraded spectrometers and computers provide the Chemistry Department with enhanced capacity for research in catalysis, chemical synthesis, and analysis of the solution structure of biomolecules.
For further information on the Center for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, please see: http://www.bc.edu/chemistry/facilities/nmr.html.
--Ed Hayward, Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs, 617-552-4826, ed.hayward@bc.edu
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