NMR spectroscopy is an indispensable method of analysis in chemistry, which until recently suffered from high demands for space, high costs for acquisition and maintenance, and operational complexity. This has changed with the introduction of compact NMR spectrometers suitable for small-molecule analysis on the chemical workbench. These spectrometers contain permanent magnets giving rise to proton NMR frequencies between 40 and 80 MHz. The enabling technology is to make small permanent magnets with homogeneous fields. Tabletop instruments with inhomogeneous fields have been in use for over 40 years for characterizing food and hydrogen-containing materials by relaxation and diffusion measurements. Related NMR instruments measure these parameters in the stray field outside the magnet. They are used to inspect the borehole walls of oil wells and to test objects nondestructively. The state-of-the-art of NMR spectroscopy, imaging and relaxometry with compact instruments is reviewed.
We show that TOCSY and multiple-quantum (MQ) 2D NMR spectra can be obtained for mixtures of substrates hyperpolarised by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarisation (D-DNP). This is achieved by combining optimised...
Elucidating the structure of complex molecules is difficult at low magnetic fields due to the overlap of different peak multiplets and second-order coupling effects. This is even more challenging for rigid molecules with small chemical shift differences and with prochiral centers. Since low-field NMR spectroscopy is sometimes presumed as restricted to the analysis of only small and simple molecules, this paper aims at countering this misconception: it demonstrates the use of low-field NMR spectroscopy in chemical forensics for identifying strychnine and its counterions by exploring the chemical shift as a signature in different 1D H andC experiments. Hereby the applied methodologies combine various 1D and 2D experiments such as 1D H,C, DEPT, and 2D COSY, HETCOR, HSQC, HMBC and J-resolved spectroscopy to elucidate the molecular structure and skeleton of strychnine at 1 Tesla. Strychnine is exemplified here, because it is a basic precursor in the chemistry of natural products and is employed as a chemical weapon and as a doping agent in sports including the Olympics. In our study, the molecular structure of the compound could be identified either with a 1D experiment at high magnetic field or with HMBC and HSQC experiments at 1 T. In conclusion, low-field NMR spectroscopy enables the chemical elucidation of the strychnine structure through a simple click with a computer mouse. In situations where a high-field NMR spectrometer is unavailable, compact NMR spectrometers can nevertheless generate knowledge of the structure, important for identifying the different chemical reaction mechanisms associated with the molecule. Desktop NMR is a cost-effective viable option in chemical forensics. It can prove adulteration and identify the origin of different strychnine salts, in particular, the strychnine free base, strychnine hemisulphate and strychnine hydrochloride. The chemical shift signatures report the chemical structure of the molecules due to the impact of the counterions on the chemical shift of the protons adjacent to the heteroatoms. This can serve as a methodology for the structure elucidation of complex molecules at lower-magnetic fields.
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