Our Mission 

The mission of the D.M. Grant NMR Center is to support the University of Utah research community. We offer access to modern NMR instruments, and support that access with basic training and training materials. But the Center is much more than an instrument facility.  The staff of the Center work closely with researchers to help them identify how NMR-based approaches can inform their research efforts. Traditionally, NMR has been successful in providing structural information on molecules - whether they be the result of synthetic strategies, derived from natural sources, or generated biosynthetically.  The Center supports efforts to answer structural questions using the best of modern NMR methods. In addition to structural answers, the Center staff help researchers answer questions involving materials science (compositional analysis), physical organic chemistry (reaction kinetics), and biophysics (kinetics, relaxation-based studies of local conformational fluctuations). Center staff are eager to learn about your science and share their expertise.  Contact information is available here.

What is NMR?

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a technique that detects the interaction of radio-frequency radiation with a sample to provide information about the structure of the sample. 

The sample in most cases is a solution of molecules – typically one kind of molecule in a simple two-component solute/solvent system.

The sample is placed in an extremely high relative magnetic field – typically more than 100,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of the earth. Under the influence of the magnetic field, the nuclei present in the molecule will absorb electromagnetic radiation with frequencies in the radio range, e.g., hundreds of cycles per second (approx. 100 MHz to 100 MHz).

If we irradiate the sample, the molecule will absorb energy and respond in a way that reveals details about the structure in the local vicinity of each of the atoms. By analyzing the response of nuclei/atoms together, the structure of a molecule can be determined.

About the NMR Center

The D.M. Grant NMR Center is a key resource of the University of Utah that supports the research community by supplying access to state-of-the-art NMR instrumentation.

The NMR Center currently has seven operating instruments, supporting research involving both liquid/solution phase sample and solid-state materials.  For solutions studies, the Center has one 800 MHz (1H) instrument, three 500 MHz (1H) instruments, one 400 MHz (1H)instrument, and one 300 MHz (1H) instrument. The Center has a wide ranges of NMR probes, supporting acquisition of NMR spectra for all of the common nuclei (1H, 13C, 2H, 31P, 19F, 10B, etc).

Literally every known solution NMR experiment is supported, including multinuclear/multidimensional studies, diffusion-ordered (DOSY) experiments, and chemical-exchange-saturation-transfer (CEST) experiments.  A speciality of the liquids-capable instruments is support for structural biology and biophysical studies, including full support of non-uniform sample (NUS) methods. For studies involving solid-state samples, e.g., microcrystalline powders, the Center operates SSNMR instruments at 200 MHz (1H) and 400 MHz (1H) that are capable of recording all of the standard SSNMR experiments, including CP/MAS, HETCOR, and FIREMAT experiments.

Usage Rates

Please contact Paul Oblad (801-581-3828) for details.

David M. Grant NMR Center Support Acknowledgments

All publications that make use of research results obtained in the NMR Center must include an acknowledgment of the Center as well as sources that helped to fund the Center. Acknowledgment of the funding sources is a requirement of the federal granting agencies, and proper reporting is essential for the success of future funding requests.

Please include the following lines in the acknowledgment section of the publication:

NMR results included in this report were recorded at the David M. Grant NMR Center, a University of Utah Core Facility. Funds for construction of the Center and the helium recovery system were obtained from the University of Utah and the National Institutes of Health awards 1C06RR017539-01A1 and 3R01GM063540-17W1 respectively. NMR instruments were purchased with support of the University of Utah and the National Institutes of Health award 1S10OD25241-01.

Advisory Group

The NMR Center Advisory Group consists of principal investigators from the major user groups.  This group advises the Director on current operations, and helps chart the course for the future of the Center.  

Current Advisory Group Members:

Assistant Professor Bethany Buck-Koehntop
Professor Ryan Looper
Professor Shelley D. Minteer
Professor Matthew S. Sigman

 

Usage Rates

Please contact Paul Oblad (801-581-3828) for details.