A critical mission of the NMR Facility is education, at the graduate level directed toward research learning, and at the undergraduate level involving credited laboratory courses, as well as for undergraduates partaking in departmental research.
A unique aspect of our instrumental training is having students in Chem 636 work with “unknown” compounds that have been gathered from previous chemists working in the department. These compounds date back before the introduction of modern instrumentation such as NMR and Mass Spec. Students take the time to consider how these earlier researchers managed to get accurate structures using traditional analytical methods. Some of the earlier and best examples have been compiled into a database located here.
Hardware is an important component of any NMR spectrometer and not easily accessible to the user. The following sketchfab animation will facilitate a deeper understanding on internal components and their location inside the spectrometer. A huge thanks to Michael Aristov for making these animations.
Please take a look at the “magnet” portion of an NMR spectrometer. Zoom in to view more details.
Here you can explore how an NMR tube with a spinner is inserted into the shimstack and travels to the coil region where the measurement will occur.
Graduate Research Learning –
Graduate students receive high-level training in NMR instrumentation in Chem 636, and very detailed organic NMR interpretation in Chem 605. Students have many other opportunities for research learning from small group and one-on-one training with NMR staff.
Undergrad Research Experiences
Approx. 40 students per year take part in undergraduate research within the Chemistry Department. A large fraction of these student use the automated NMR spectrometers at a level similar to graduate students.
Undergraduate Organic Lab –
Chem 344 & 346
Data for both lab classes will be collected in the NMR facility. Chem 344 students will prepare their own samples and submit these to boxes to be queued by the TAs. Chem 346 students will prepare their samples and also submit them to the automated NMR instruments.
Undergraduate Phys Chem Lab –
Chem 564
NMR data will be collected manually in small groups under the supervision of a TA. These datasets will then be analyzed further.