Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most versatile techniques available to chemists to characterize compounds, materials, and biological systems. In fact, NMR spectroscopy is an indispensible tool in chemical research. The technique is used to determine the structures of molecules, to monitor the rates of chemical reactions, to study dynamic processes, and much more. There is a practically infinite number of applications of NMR spectroscopy in chemistry, including those in: organic synthesis, bioorganic chemistry, biological chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, catalysis, materials science, hydrogen storage, and green chemistry. In this proposal, funding is urgently requested to upgrade the console of a 300 MHz NMR spectrometer at the University of Ottawa. The current console is ten years old and has suffered lengthy breakdowns over the past year. Such breakdowns have severe negative impacts on the research programs of 20 faculty members and 100 graduate students and postdoctoral-fellows. These impacts will become more problematic with the recent expansion of our department. The requested console upgrade will enable cutting-edge research in several diverse research programs in the general areas of molecular synthesis and catalysis. Particular uses of the NMR spectrometer include, but are not limited to: (i) immediate walk-up access for students and trainees; (ii) heteronuclear NMR experiments (e.g., carbon-13, phosphorus-31, boron-11); (iii) hands-on use and training of highly-qualified personnel on a state-of-the art spectrometer; (iv) long experiments to characterize chemical reaction kinetics; (v) variable-temperature experiments; (vi) experiments on unstable and air-sensitive samples.