Services
Provide and Maintain NMR Spectrometers
Typically users operate the instruments on their own. The NMR facility has 300-MHz and 500-MHz spectrometers equipped to conduct a wide variety of 1D and 2D programs. 1D experiments include 1H, 13C, DEPT, 19F, 195Pt, 31P, 25Mg and 15N. 2D experiments include COSY, DQF-COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, ROESY, HSQC and HMQC. 3D experiments can be performed on the 500-MHz instrument using triple resonance probes (TXI) tuned to 15N, 13C and 1H, or 31P, 13C and 1H. Instrument time is charged to the users on an hourly basis.
Higher-field 600-MHz, 750-MHz and 800-MHz instruments are available through our participation in the Gulf Coast Consortia.
User Training
The facility provides training on the operation of the instruments as well as how to run advanced 2D and 3D experiments. Users must pass a proficiency test before they can operate the instruments on their own.
Sample Analysis
For those individuals who do not wish to obtain their own spectra, we will analyze samples as a service. This includes acquisition and interpretation of spectra. Structural biology, that is, the determination of the structure of a protein or a nucleic acid, is also available as a service. Both instrument time and manager time are charged on an hourly basis.
Molecular modeling capabilities also are available but are not currently offered as a service. Instead, researchers in each independent research group can use the software for their own specific needs. To compute structures, NMR data (derived from 1D Proton; 2D double-quantum filtered COSY, NOESY; and 3D isotope-edited NOESY) are analyzed by programs such as XPLOR, CNS or Discover. XPLOR and CNS use distance geometry algorithms, while Discover uses constrained molecular dynamics, a protocol that calculates ensembles of structures by allowing the atoms of the molecule to move over time.