Atomic-level characterization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is crucial in pharmaceutical industry because APIs play an important role in physicochemical properties of drug formulations. However, the analysis of targeted APIs in intact tablet formulations is less straightforward due to the coexistence of excipients as major components and different APIs at dilute concentrations (often below

The molecular structure of a crosslinked nitrogen-rich resin made from melamine, urea, and aldehydes, and of microcapsules made from the reactive resin with multiple polymeric components in aqueous dispersion, has been analyzed by 13C, 13C{1H}, 1H-13C, 1H, 13C{14N}, and 15N solid-state NMR without isotopic enrichment. Quantitative 13C NMR spectra of the microcapsules and three precursor materials enable

Solution NMR is a key tool to study intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), whose importance for biological function is widely accepted. However, disordered proteins are not limited to solution and are also found in non-soluble systems such as fibrils and membrane proteins. In this Trends article, I will discuss how solid-state NMR can be used to study disorder in non-soluble proteins. Techniques

Characterization of lipid based (SPC/GDO/H2O) liquid crystal (LC) drug delivery system is non-trivial and highly complex, especially when multiple and intermediate phases are present. The phase behavior of such mixtures during hydration or delivery is still poorly understood and therefore, characterizing these systems is crucially important towards controlling their function and enhancing the understanding

In 2013 the EPSRC published a report on the NMR equipment base serving the physical and life sciences community in the UK. Whilst this included both solution and solid state NMR, the report omitted equipment from industry or outside of the UK. This report originated as a means of benchmarking industrial solid state NMR facilities around the world. A survey of 24 SSNMR laboratories was conducted in

We developed an approach for determining location of intrinsic paramagnetic defects in nanodiamonds from the data of proton spin-lattice relaxation of the surface hydrogen atoms. The approach was applied to the detonation nanodiamond (DND) of the diameter of 5 nm. We found that dangling bonds with unpaired electron spins are located within the near-surface belt at the distance of 0.3-0.9 nm from the

We carried out a detailed investigation of the local ordering and dynamics of the lithium intercalation in paramagnetic LixVOPO4.2H2O (with 0 < x ≤ 1) materials. This question was addressed using a combination of X-ray diffraction, 31P and 7Li MAS NMR experiments. We first studied the structure of the fully ordered end-member of the series, Li1VOPO4.2H2O, revisiting the X-ray single crystal diffraction

Experiments using nutation interferograms and nutation spectra in nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) are used for the first time to find the distribution of short spin-spin relaxation times in powder samples. Instead of the traditional method of the inversion of the Laplace transform, the inversion of the integral transformations of nutation interferograms and nutation spectra are used in this work

The paramagnetic properties of metal ions and stable radicals can affect NMR spectra, which can lead to changes in peak intensities, relaxation times and chemical shifts. The changes from paramagnetic effects provide intriguing opportunities for solid-state NMR studies of proteins. In this review, we summarized the trends and progress of paramagnetic solid-state NMR of proteins in the past decade,

The effort for determining NMR interaction tensors from orientation-dependent spectra of single crystals may be greatly reduced by exploiting symmetry relations between atoms of the observed nuclide in the unit cell, as is well documented in the literature. In this work, we determined both the full chemical shift (CS) tensor of 207Pb and the unknown orientation of the rotation axis for the natural

Time domain NMR (TD-NMR) has been widely used on the analysis of liquids or liquid components in heterogeneous materials such as food, biological tissues, synthetic and bio polymers, oil-bearing rocks, biomasses and cement-based materials. The use of TD-NMR for studying solid and soft mater has been growing in number and variety of applications, mostly for organic systems where the detection of 1H

The design and implementation of a software package for the analysis of single-crystal NMR data is presented. The SCFit software can treat spectra arising from various interactions: (i) chemical shift tensor only; (ii) chemical shift tensor and quadrupolar coupling tensor; (iii) dipolar and indirect nuclear spin-spin coupling tensors; (iv) all four interactions. The software is demonstrated on recently

Contact lenses are worn by over 140 million people each year and tremendous research and development efforts contribute to the identification and selection of hydrogel components and production protocols to yield lenses optimized for chemical and physiological properties, eye health and comfort. The final molecular composition and extent of incorporation of different components in contact lenses is

NMR spectroscopy is a powerful experimental technique to study biological systems at the atomic resolution. However, its intrinsic low sensitivity results in long acquisition times that in extreme cases lasts for days (or even weeks) often exceeding the lifetime of the sample under investigation. Different paramagnetic agents have been used in an effort to decrease the spin-lattice (T1) relaxation

We present a novel nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe design focused on optimizing the temperature gradient across the sample for high temperature magic angle spinning (MAS) experiments using standard rotors. Computational flow dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to assess and optimize the temperature gradient across the sample under MAS conditions. The chemical shift and linewidth of 207Pb direct

Sodium ion batteries offer an inexpensive alternative to lithium ion batteries, particularly for large-scale applications such as grid storage that do not require fast charging rates and high power output. Moreover, the use of polyanionic structures as cathode materials afford incredibly high structural stability relative to layered transition metal oxides that can undergo a structural collapse upon

Paramagnetic solid-state NMR of lanthanide (Ln) containing materials can be challenging due to the high electron spin states possible for the Ln f electrons, which result in large paramagnetic shifts, and these difficulties are compounded for 17O due to the low natural abundance and quadrupolar character. In this work, we present examples of 17O NMR experiments for lanthanide oxides and strategies

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) build-up times at low temperature for low-gamma nuclei can be unfavorably long and can be accelerated by transfer of polarization from protons. The efficiency of the cross polarization (CP) depends on the B1-field strengths, the pulse sequence chosen for cross polarization and the sample composition. CP experiments rely on high B1-fields, which typically lead to electrical

Biological mineralized tissues are hybrid materials with complex hierarchical architecture composed of biominerals often embedded in an organic matrix. The atomic-scale comprehension of surfaces and organo-mineral interfaces of these biominerals is of paramount importance to understand the ultrastructure, the formation mechanisms as well as the biological functions of the related biomineralized tissue

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a powerful technique for the characterization of the atomic-level structure and dynamics of materials. Nevertheless, the use of this technique is often limited by its lack of sensitivity, which can prevent the observation of surfaces, defects or insensitive isotopes. Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) has been shown to improve by one to three orders of magnitude the

Experimental and theoretical investigations of a sulfur-33 electric-field-gradient (EFG) tensor of disulfide bonds in 33S-labled dibenzyl disulfide have been presented. Temperature dependence of quadrupolar frequencies, νQ, is observed in the temperature range between 80 and 280 K, in which single peaks appear in all the 33S nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectra. Analysis of nutation echo 33S

The structural and electronic properties of solid coordination compounds are of great interest in a wide variety of applications. The sensitivity of solid-state NMR to local structural environments in the presence of a transition metal with unpaired spins is demonstrated through 13C and 1H MAS NMR spectra of tris(acetylacetonato)manganese (III), Mn(acac)3. The spectral assignment is established using

The lithium NMR shifts of three paramagnetic materials important in the charging/discharging processes of lithium vanadium phosphate cathode materials have been studied by large-scale quantum-chemical methodology. Namely, the 7Li NMR shifts of the fully lithiated Li3V2(PO4)3 (LVP3.0), and of the partly delithiated Li2.5V2(PO4)3 (LVP2.5) and Li2V2(PO4)3 (LVP2.0), have been computed and analyzed using

We describe a useful method for measuring the internuclear distances within arbitrarily selected pairs of like nuclei in dipolar-coupled multi-spin systems. The method uses a combination of the zero-quantum shift-evolution-assisted selective homonuclear recoupling (ZQ-SEASHORE) technique developed by Hu and Tycko [J. Chem. Phys. 2009, 131, 045101] and double-frequency-selective radio-frequency pulse

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) offers a promising route to studying local atomic environments at the surface of both crystalline and amorphous materials. We take advantage of unpaired electrons due to defects close to the surface of the silicon microparticles to hyperpolarize adjacent 1H nuclei. At 3.3 T and 4.2 K, we observe the presence of two proton

The feasibility of high-resolution 175Lu solid-state NMR spectroscopy in intermetallic compounds crystallizing with cubic crystal structures is explored by magic-angle spinning NMR at different magnetic flux densities. The large quadrupole moment of this isotope (3.49 × 10-28 m2) restricts observation of the NMR signal to nearly perfectly ordered crystalline samples. Signals are successfully detected

To examine bonding nature of fluorine ligands in a metal coordinated system, 19F high-resolution solid-state NMR has been applied to TiF4, which bears both bridging and terminal fluorines. Observed 12 isotropic signals are assigned to 12 crystallographically different fluorines (6 terminal and 6 bridging fluorines) in TiF4 by referring to the calculated isotropic shifts using density functional theory

Two new two-dimensional, broadband, solid-state NMR experiments for separating and correlating the quadrupolar and shift interactions of spin I=1 nuclei in paramagnetic systems are proposed. The new pulse sequences incorporate the short, high-power adiabatic pulses (SHAPs) into the shifting d-echo experiment of Walder et al. [J. Chem. Phys., 142, 014201 (2015)], in two different ways, giving double

NMR spectroscopy of paramagnetic materials (pNMR) has the potential to provide great structural insight, but many challenges remain in interpreting the spectra in detail. This work presents a study of a series of structurally analogous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on 5-substituted isophthalate linkers and Cu(II) paddlewheel dimers, of interest owing to their "crumple zone" structural rearrangement

For the first time, 15N NMR data are obtained for a sample of nitric oxide at various temperatures. Spectra have been obtained in the liquid and solid state. In the former, the chemical shift as well as the spin-lattice relaxation time is characterized by the dynamic equilibrium of the dimerization reaction. Only the signal of the (NO)2 dimer is observed, while the paramagnetic NO has strong influences

We report solid-state 13C NMR spectra of urea-loaded copper benzoate, Cu2(C6H5CO2)4·2(urea), a simplified model for copper paddlewheel-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), along with first-principles density functional theory (DFT) computation of the paramagnetic NMR (pNMR) chemical shifts. Assuming a Boltzmann distribution between a diamagnetic open-shell singlet ground state (in a broken-symmetry

While uniform isotope labeling of ribonucleic acids (RNA) can simply and efficiently be achieved by in-vitro transcription, the specific introduction of nucleotides in larger constructs is non-trivial and often ineffective. Here, we demonstrate how a medium-sized (67-mer), biocatalytically relevant RNA (hammerhead ribozyme, HHRz) can be formed by spontaneous hybridization of two differently isotope-labeled

Cross Effect (CE) Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) relies on the dipolar (D) and exchange (J) coupling interaction between two electron spins. Until recently only the electron spin D coupling was explicitly included in quantifying the DNP mechanism. Recent literature discusses the potential role of J coupling in DNP, but does not provide an account of the distribution and source of electron spin

Structure and dynamics of natural and regenerated chicken feather β-keratin were investigated by 13C cross-polarization (CP) magic angle spinning (MAS) solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectral analysis, 13C and 1H spin-lattice relaxation time measurements, and 13C two dimensional phase adjusted spinning sidebands (2DPASS) MAS SSNMR measurements. Chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) parameters

A novel Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) NMR polarizing agent ToSMTSL-PTE representing a phospholipid with a biradical TOTAPOL tethered to the polar head group has been synthesized, characterized, and employed to enhance solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SSNMR) signal of a lipid-reconstituted integral membrane protein proteorhodopsin (PR). A matrix-free PR formulation for DNP improved the absolute

We investigate solid-state dynamic nuclear polarization of 13C and 15N nuclei using monoradical trityl OX063 as a polarizing agent in a magnetic field of 14.1 T with magic angle spinning at ∼100 K. We monitored the field dependence of direct 13C and 15N polarization for frozen [13C, 15N] urea and achieved maximum absolute enhancement factors of 240 and 470, respectively. The field profiles are consistent

Silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) are intriguing materials and their properties fascinate the broader scientific community; they are also attractive to the biological and materials science sub-disciplines because of their established biological and environmental compatibility, as well as their far-reaching practical applications. While characterization of the particle nanostructure can be performed using

Whereas specially designed dinitroxide biradicals, reconstitution protocols, oriented sample geometries and NMR probes have helped to much increase the DNP enhancement factors of membrane samples they still lag considerably behind those obtained from glasses made of protein solutions. Here we show that not only the MAS rotor material but also the distribution of the membrane samples within the NMR

The development of new, high-frequency solid-state diode sources capable of operating at 263 GHz, together with an optimized stator design for improved millimeter-wave coupling to the NMR sample, have enabled low-power DNP experiments at 263 GHz/400 MHz. With 250 mW output power, signal enhancements as high as 120 are achieved on standard samples - approximately 1/3 of the maximal enhancement available

We demonstrate the possibility to use UDEFT (Uniform Driven Equilibrium Fourier Transform) technique in order to improve the sensitivity and the quantification of one-dimensional 29Si NMR experiments under magic-angle spinning (MAS). We derive an analytical expression of the signal-to-noise ratios of UDEFT and single-pulse (SP) experiments subsuming the contributions of transient and steady-state regimes

Recent advances in the development of perovskite based solar cells have increased the demand for in-depth characterisation of the perovskite structures and the dynamics of their various constituents in relation to the potential impact on the photovoltaic performance. NMR can play an important role in this respect; NMR has been used to study the incorporation of different ionic species, characterize

Combining 17O Magic-Angle Spinning (MAS) NMR at natural abundance with DFT calculations is a promising methodology to shed light on the structure and disorder in tetrahedral sheets of designed micas with enhanced properties. Among brittle micas, synthetic mica is an important alternative to natural ones with a swelling sheet-like structure that results in many applications, by exploiting unique characteristics

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) for the enhancement of the NMR signals of specific metabolites has recently found applications in the context of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Currently, DNP signal enhancement is implemented in clinical systems through the use of exogenous stable organic free radicals, known as polarization agents (PAs), mixed in a solution with the metabolite of interest. These

The acquisition of solid-state NMR spectra of "heavy" spin I = 1/2 nuclei, such as 119Sn, 195Pt, 199Hg or 207Pb can often prove challenging due to the presence of large chemical shift anisotropy (CSA), which can cause significant broadening of spectral lines. However, previous publications have shown that well-resolved spectra can be obtained via inverse 1H detection using HMQC experiments in combination

The multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning (MQMAS) experiment is a popular choice for obtaining high-resolution solid-state NMR spectra of quadrupolar nuclei with half-integer spin quantum number. However, its inherently poor sensitivity limits its application in more challenging systems. In particular, the use of higher-order multiple-quantum coherences, which have the potential to provide higher resolution

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) is a wide-spread technique for sensitivity enhancement of MAS NMR. During a typical MAS DNP experiment, several mechanisms resulting in polarization transfer may be active at the same time. One such mechanism which is most commonly active but up to now mostly disregarded is SCREAM-DNP (Specific Cross Relaxation Enhancement by Active Motions under DNP). This effect