Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful analytical tools used to probe details of molecular structure and dynamics. It requires very high magnetic fields and, hence, generally uses extremely large, powerful magnets. The advent of small, powerful magnets has allowed much less expensive low resolution NMR instrumentation to be designed, making it feasible to measure commercially important characteristics of dispersion behaviour and performance, including the wetted surface area of particulate suspensions and emulsion droplet size. An important additional practical application is the ability to determine competitive adsorption and/or displacement of polymers and surfactants at interfaces. This article presents a brief overview of these new approaches together with an example of each measurement.

Chemists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Technische Universität München (TUM) in Germany have introduced an improvement on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements for identifying chemical compounds.

1H NMR spectra are usually interpreted by hand, which is very time consuming, and can become a process bottleneck in fields such as high-throughput NMR. Greater automation of the spectral analysis process has become essential if NMR is to be of value as a high-throughput analytical method in the future.

Metabolic profiling of tissue samples could transform the way surgeons make decisions in the operating theatre, say researchers at a new laboratory. Scientists at Imperial College London, in partnership with clinicians at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, have installed a high resolution solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer in St Mary’s Hospital. Researchers will use the machine to analyse intact tissue samples from patients taking part in studies, to investigate whether it can ultimately give surgeons detailed diagnostic information while their patients are under the knife.

Dirk Lachenmeier, Marina Gary, Yulia Monakhova, Thomas Kuballa and Gerd Mildau describe “Rapid NMR screening of total aldehydes to detect oxidative rancidity in vegetable oils and decorative cosmetics”. Lipid oxidation produces rancid products, which are both unpleasant and potentially toxic. The authors describe the use of NMR to screen food and cosmetic products. Whilst, vegetable oils were generally found to be in good condition, German women may wish to be careful of their lipstick, especially if they have had kept it for a while!

UK researchers will gain new insights into vital high tech engineering materials and novel pharmaceuticals thanks to the creation of the UK’s most powerful NMR device for solids now sited in a national research facility in the University of Warwick’s Centre for Magnetic Resonance.

Bruker has introduced the SampleXpress, a robust and cost-effective solution for medium-throughput automation in NMR routine and research applications. Its compact, fully integrated design reduces space requirements and sample transfer times. Combined with a built-in barcode reader for automatic sample identification, SampleXpress is suitable for optimising throughput in standard NMR service laboratories. In addition, efficiency and safety is maximised due to interchangeable, easy-to-fill cassette modules that can be loaded on the bench. The cassettes hold up to 60 standard NMR tubes from 100 mm up to 190 mm with variable diameters from 1.7 mm to 10 mm. The system is compatible with all Bruker Avance NMR spectrometers and can be mounted on all shielded Bruker magnets up to 850 MHz and most non-shielded magnets up to 650 mHz. It is controlled by IconNMR and the barcode identification enables the use of Bruker's laboratory information system, SampleTrack.

Through a combination of remote instrumentation, JPEG-style image compression algorithms and other key enhancements, Alexander Pines and members of his research group have been able to use Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to image materials flowing through microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” devices and zoom in on microscopic objects of particular interest with unprecedented spatial and time resolutions.

In two studies published today in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis, UK and Swiss research teams reveal two techniques proven to identify dissolved cocaine in bottles of wine or rum. These tools will allow customs officials to quickly identify bottles being used to smuggle cocaine, without the need to open or disturb the container.

The School of Chemistry at Leeds University provided an ideal venue for the 2010 Royal Society of Chemistry NMR Discussion Group Postgraduate meeting. This one-day conference has now become an annual event, comprising talks and posters presented by early career researchers, giving them an opportunity to showcase their research in a friendly and informal atmosphere. On this occasion, overview presentations were also given by leading experts in their fields. Delegates included established scientists and group leaders from both academia and industry, providing a supportive and stimulating environment for all those presenting.

Counterfeiting of drugs is a huge industry with an annual turnover of more than €50 billion. In Africa the situation is extremely serious: half of the malaria medication sold there could be ineffective or even harmful. Researchers from Lund University, Sweden, and King’s College London, UK, have now developed a technique based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that could provide a good way to identify counterfeit drugs.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy can distinguish between neurological diseases in patients without clear symptoms.

Microscopy with atomic resolution could be useful in the determining the structure of some unknown organic compounds, such as medicinally important natural products, according to a study online in Nature Chemistry. This method could avoid the lengthy and expensive process of trying to synthesise the compound and then compare its structure with that of the natural one, which is necessary in some cases.

The new Jean Jeener Bio-NMR Centre at the VIB Department of Molecular and Cellular Interactions, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, has already played a role in a scientific breakthrough that has been published Cell. Thanks to NMR, it is possible to determine the dynamic structure of proteins, and it was used to find out how the activity of certain proteins involved in the stress physiology of bacteria is regulated.

Bio-Rad Laboratories has announced the availability of several new spectral databases.

Bruker has launched its Ascend series of compact, high-field NMR magnets to make high-field NMR more powerful and at the same time more convenient and accessible for NMR laboratories.

Bruker BioSpin has introduced the new Fourier 300, an easy-to-use 300 MHz high-resolution spectrometer that brings FT-NMR within any chemist’s reach. With its robust Fourier probe technology, easy software, miniaturised electronics and proven magnets, it is a complete proton and carbon 1D and 2D FT-NMR system.