Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Professor Anderson gets an uncommon look at NMR

Gretchen Anderson attended an NSF workshop on medicinal chemistry at the University of Minnesota. The university's NMR facilities were part of the tour. A 60 MHz NMR magnet had been cut apart to show the inner magnet and shielding chamber, a sight most people don't see (shown below left).  


Most people also do not see the large room housing multiple high field NMRs, including a 900 MHz NMR (shown above right). The magnetic field from these NMRs is so high, it can be easily detected outside. So much so, in fact, that bushes had to be planted strategically around the building to discourage people from getting too close to the underground facility, especially those with pacemakers (not to mention anyone carrying objects containing iron).