UW-Madison School of Pharmacy - Analytical Instrumentation Center NMR Spectroscopy Facility

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Analytical Instrumentation Center

NMR Spectroscopy Facility

NMR Training Overview

Facility access is earned in stages. Completing the first stage of training earns basic access to the NMR Facility, comprising physical access to the laboratory and access to the 400 MHz spectrometer, data stations, printer, etc. Access to the 500 MHz instrument requires completion of a second training component. Additional training is required for those desiring to perform variable-temperature experiments or other experiments of a more advanced nature.

Those with minimal NMR knowledge and/or experience are expected to put forth extra effort as needed to get “up to speed” for independent work in the Facility; such efforts may include additional reading, study and hands-on practice. The NMR Facility Director will strive to provide training and direction as appropriate to meet individual needs.

Commonly requested training sessions are described below, with links to related Facility documents and an on-line NMR Training Registration Form which must be used to request the training of interest. Arrangements for NMR training should be planned and made in advance to avoid scheduling conflicts, to understand the requirements and to allow adequate time to prepare for and complete the requirements.

Basic Facility Access (UI-400, 400 MHz Spectrometer)

  1. Complete the on-line NMR Training Registration Form and request Basic Access training.
  2. You will be provided with a directed reading assignment from the NMR Facility User Guide, along with a quiz over the reading material.
  3. Once the successfully completed quiz has been received by the NMR Facility Director, you will be contacted to schedule a training session.
  4. The training session requires a commitment of 3 hours and covers basic spectrometer operation, file handling, data processing and plotting, and use of the on-line instrument reservation utility.
  5. A 30-minute block of spectrometer time will be reserved for you that day to acquire data for the practical exercise, which is basically a reproduction of the procedures covered in the training demonstration. An NMR staff person must be available during this time in case you require assistance.
  6. The remainder of the exercise must be completed (typically requires about 1 hour) and turned in to the NMR Facility Director by the end of the following day, at which time your probationary lab access will convert to permanent status. Failure to complete the exercise on time will result in loss of access to the NMR spectrometer.

Notes:  Bear these time commitments in mind when scheduling the training session; you will need to spend approximately 5 hours over two consecutive days. If you anticipate difficulty in meeting these requirements, please contact the NMR Facility Director to discuss your concerns. An NMR sample will be provided for the demonstration and exercise. Users are granted probationary access to the NMR Facility for the sole purpose of fulfilling the training requirements; research-related work is not permitted in the Facility until all requirements have been fulfilled and the probationary access restriction is lifted. Although extensive written documentation is available from these web pages and in the NMR laboratory, training session attendees are expected to take adequate notes during all demonstrations.

Advanced Access (UI-500, 500 MHz Spectrometer)

Those with needs that cannot be met by the UI-400 spectrometer may request advanced training for access to the UI-500 spectrometer.

  1. Complete the on-line NMR Training Registration Form and request Advanced Access training.
  2. You will be provided with an appropriately directed reading assignment from the NMR Facility User Guide, along with a quiz over the reading material.
  3. Once the successfully completed quiz has been received by the NMR Facility Director, you will be contacted to schedule a training session.
  4. The training session requires a commitment of 2 hours and covers more advanced spectrometer operation topics such as direct- versus indirect-detection experiments and probe tuning.
  5. You will complete a hands-on, practical exercise during the training session.

Miscellaneous Training Topics

Additional NMR training courses such as for variable-temperature (VT) experiments, CapNMR probe use, solvent suppression methods, diffusion, relaxation or kinetics experiments are typically organized on an ad hoc basis. Please use the on-line NMR Training Registration Form to request or suggest additional training courses of interest.