Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
NMR spectroscopy is the only experiment that gives combined structural and dynamical information of molecules at atomic resolution, in solution. It is widely used for routine characterisation of molecules and is vital for chemical analysis.
At the Franklin, we extend the capabilities of NMR by developing methods that enable characterisation of biological molecules, and the behaviour of molecules inside cells.
Samples are placed in a strong magnetic field, which renders nuclear spin energy levels sensitive to spectroscopic probing. Because the differences in energy between these levels is very low, it becomes possible to setup coherent entangled quantum mechanical states that allow us to move signal between different nuclei. This allows us to easily measure structural and dynamical properties of molecules. These, in turn, show us how they interact with binding partners and reveal their motions. NMR gives structural, kinetic and thermodynamic descriptions of how molecules behave and so is a very powerful method for chemical and biochemical analysis. At the Franklin we develop new experiments that improve the sensitivity of existing experiments and allow us to interrogate biological systems with atomic precision.
We have two state-of-the-art Bruker spectrometers at the Franklin. One is operated at 600 MHz and is currently furnished with three different probes. This includes a 5mm QCIF cryoprobe, optimised for biological sample analysis, a 5 mm broadband probe, which is ideal for analysing all NMR active nuclei, and a room temperature 5 mm TCI probe. Furthermore, we plan to have a 1.7 mm TCI probe in development with Bruker, that which will enable analysis of low volume samples, useful for difficult to produce biological samples and high-throughput synthesis. The 600 MHz magnet is also furnished with a SampleJet, for automated sample loading and storage.
The second spectrometer runs at 400 MHz with a room temperature broadband probe, which is used for routine characterisation primarily of organic small molecules. This has a 16-slot carousel for sample loading and is used as a walk-up instrument.
In addition to the two spectrometers, we have equipment designed to optimise the way we prepare and collect NMR data. This includes an InsightMR system, which is comprised of a flow unit and analysis software. This flow unit is temperature controlled for precise reaction monitoring and can be used with either spectrometer. We are also equipped with two SamplePro systems, which are liquid handling robots specialised for sample preparation for NMR tubes.
The design of the room hosting the 600 MHz is designed to BSL level 2 standard greatly widening the scope of biological application of the spectrometers.
This ensures the Franklin researchers can perform complex biological NMR and routine synthetic analysis with high efficiency and accuracy.
Collaboration
We encourage external collaboration using our experiments, and we actively help groups implement our methodologies.
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