Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a standard technique used in many laboratories to study physical, chemical and biological properties of matter.  NMR is an indispensable technique for identifying the chemical structure of simple organic molecules and complicated molecules such as protein, polysaccharides and DNA.  The technique can also be used to study dynamic processes and in drug design.

NMR is essentially another form of absorption spectroscopy.  Under appropriate conditions in a magnetic field a sample can absorb electromagnetic radiation, in the radio frequency (RF) region, at frequencies controlled by the characteristics of the sample.  An NMR spectra is a plot of the resonance frequency (chemical shift) against the intensity of RF absorption by the sample.  The chemical shift is calibrated and expressed in parts per million (ppm).

Simple one-dimensional (1D) NMR techniques are used routinely to study chemical structures, whilst two-dimensional techniques (2D) are preferred for more complicated molecules.

For more information contact Ronald Shimmon