NMR Knowledge Base / Ezine
Cheating spectroscopy
Date: Jul 1, 2010
Author: David Bradley
REDOR, a new form of NMR has been used by researchers in the US to figure out why the cheatgrass weed out-strips soy crops, particularly in higher carbon dioxide. Their results have serious implications for agriculture in the face of climate change.
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Palm-sized magnet
Date: Jun 15, 2010
Author: David Bradley
German researchers have developed a light, permanent magnet that is suitable for NMR and fits in the palm of your hand. Writing in Angewandte Chemie, they say it could be used for portable, high-resolution NMR instruments.
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NMR gets inside lithium-ion batteries
Date: Jun 1, 2010
Author: David Bradley
A simple and precise method for "seeing" the chemistry taking place in a rechargeable lithium-ion battery using NMR spectroscopy has been developed by UK scientists. The work might help improve battery design to remedy flaws in this kind of power supply, such as rapid discharge and loss of charge capacity.
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Forest fire phosphorus
Date: May 15, 2010
Author: David Bradley
Phosphorus NMR has been used to investigate the effects on the chemistry of phosphorus in soil as an indicator of nutritional quality for vegetation and tree growth following a forest fire.
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Biting chemistry
Date: May 1, 2010
Author: David Bradley
US chemists have constructed a molecule that bites its own tail. Fed a diet of zinc ions the "ouroborand" will release its bite to let other smaller molecules into its cavity. Remove the Zn and it will bite again trapping the "guest".
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Metabolic obesity
Date: Apr 15, 2010
Author: David Bradley
Evidence from NMR spectroscopic studies of individual metabolic profiles would suggest that the way our bodies digest and process nutrients in the food we eat is different for every person and could ultimately affect overweight and obesity problems.
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Evolutionary approach to studying brain chemistry
Date: Apr 1, 2010
Author: David Bradley
Researchers have used a technique known as "directed evolution" to devise a novel contrast agent that could enable non-invasive magnetic resonance studies of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, in the brain.
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Myrtle medicine
Date: Mar 15, 2010
Author: David Bradley
German researchers have successfully devised and implemented a total synthes of myrtucommulone A, tracking progress and structures using NMR spectroscopy. The compound is physiologically active in anticancer and antibacterial screens, and the synthesis opens up the potential for making simpler, but active analogues.
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Copper, on the beat with NMR
Date: Mar 1, 2010
Author: David Bradley
The first NMR spectroscopy study of the copper site in an important blue metalloprotein, azurin, has been undertaken. Copper mediates many biochemical redox reactions and azurin plays an important role in catalysing electron transfer in cellular reactions.
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Pinpointing prostate problems without surgery
Date: Feb 15, 2010
Author: David Bradley
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the molecular cousin of MRI could be used to pinpoint the exact location of prostate cancers and to determine the aggressiveness of a tumour, according to research published in the Science Translational Medicine. The approach could help guide treatment.
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