Earth's field NMR

Last updated

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the geomagnetic field is conventionally referred to as Earth's field NMR (EFNMR). EFNMR is a special case of low field NMR.

Contents

When a sample is placed in a constant magnetic field and stimulated (perturbed) by a time-varying (e.g., pulsed or alternating) magnetic field, NMR active nuclei resonate at characteristic frequencies. Examples of such NMR active nuclei are the isotopes carbon-13 and hydrogen-1 (which in NMR is conventionally known as proton NMR). The resonant frequency of each isotope is directly proportional to the strength of the applied magnetic field, and the magnetogyric or gyromagnetic ratio of that isotope. The signal strength is proportional both to the stimulating magnetic field and the number of nuclei of that isotope in the sample. Thus in the 21 tesla magnetic field that may be found in high resolution laboratory NMR spectrometers, protons resonate at 900 MHz. However, in the Earth's magnetic field the same nuclei resonate at audio frequencies of around 2 kHz and generate very weak signals.

The location of a nucleus within a complex molecule affects the 'chemical environment' (i.e. the rotating magnetic fields generated by the other nuclei) experienced by the nucleus. Thus different hydrocarbon molecules containing NMR active nuclei in different positions within the molecules produce slightly different patterns of resonant frequencies.

EFNMR signals can be affected by both magnetically noisy laboratory environments and natural variations in the Earth's field, which originally compromised its usefulness. However this disadvantage has been overcome by the introduction of electronic equipment which compensates changes in ambient magnetic fields.

Whereas chemical shifts are important in NMR, they are insignificant in the Earth's field. The absence of chemical shifts causes features such as spin-spin multiplets (that are separated by high fields) to be superimposed in EFNMR. Instead, EFNMR spectra are dominated by spin-spin coupling (J-coupling) effects. Software optimised for analysing these spectra can provide useful information about the structure of the molecules in the sample.

Applications

Applications of EFNMR include:

The advantages of the Earth's field instruments over conventional (high field strength) instruments include the portability of the equipment giving the ability to analyse substances on-site, and their lower cost. The much lower geomagnetic field strength, that would otherwise result in poor signal-to-noise ratios, is compensated by homogeneity of the Earth's field giving the ability to use much larger samples. Their relatively low cost and simplicity make them good educational tools.

Although those commercial EFNMR spectrometers and MRI instruments aimed at universities etc. are necessarily sophisticated and are too costly for most hobbyists, internet search engines find data and designs for basic proton precession magnetometers which claim to be within the capability of reasonably competent electronic hobbyists or undergraduate students to build from readily available components costing no more than a few tens of US dollars.

Mode of operation

Free induction decay (FID) is the magnetic resonance due to Larmor precession that results from the stimulation of nuclei by means of either a pulsed dc magnetic field or a pulsed resonant frequency (rf) magnetic field, somewhat analogous respectively to the effects of plucking or bowing a stringed instrument. Whereas a pulsed rf field is usual in conventional (high field) NMR spectrometers, the pulsed dc polarising field method of stimulating FID is usual in EFNMR spectrometers and PPMs.

EFNMR equipment typically incorporates several coils, for stimulating the samples and for sensing the resulting NMR signals. Signal levels are very low, and specialised electronic amplifiers are required to amplify the EFNMR signals to usable levels. The stronger the polarising magnetic field, the stronger the EFNMR signals and the better the signal-to-noise ratios. The main trade-offs are performance versus portability and cost.

Since the FID resonant frequencies of NMR active nuclei are directly proportional to the magnetic field affecting those nuclei, we can use widely available NMR spectroscopy data to analyse suitable substances in the Earth's magnetic field.

An important feature of EFNMR compared with high-field NMR is that some aspects of molecular structure can be observed more clearly at low fields and low frequencies, whereas other features observable at high fields may not be observable at low fields. This is because:

For more context and explanation of NMR principles, please refer to the main articles on NMR and NMR spectroscopy. For more detail see proton NMR and carbon-13 NMR.

Proton EFNMR frequencies

The geomagnetic field strength and hence precession frequency varies with location and time.

Larmor precession frequency = magnetogyric ratio x magnetic field
Proton magnetogyric ratio = 42.576 Hz/μT (also written 42.576 MHz/T or 0.042576 Hz/nT)
Earth's magnetic field: 30 μT near Equator to 60 μT near Poles, around 50 μT at mid-latitudes.

Thus proton (hydrogen nucleus) EFNMR frequencies are audio frequencies of about 1.3 kHz near the Equator to 2.5 kHz near the Poles, around 2 kHz being typical of mid-latitudes. In terms of the electromagnetic spectrum EFNMR frequencies are in the VLF and ULF radio frequency bands, and the audio-magnetotelluric (AMT) frequencies of geophysics.

Examples of molecules containing hydrogen nuclei useful in proton EFNMR are water, hydrocarbons such as natural gas and petroleum, and carbohydrates such as occur in plants and animals.

See also

Related Research Articles

In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the chemical shift is the resonant frequency of an atomic nucleus relative to a standard in a magnetic field. Often the position and number of chemical shifts are diagnostic of the structure of a molecule. Chemical shifts are also used to describe signals in other forms of spectroscopy such as photoemission spectroscopy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy</span> Laboratory technique

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique based on re-orientation of atomic nuclei with non-zero nuclear spins in an external magnetic field. This re-orientation occurs with absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency region from roughly 4 to 900 MHz, which depends on the isotopic nature of the nucleus and increased proportionally to the strength of the external magnetic field. Notably, the resonance frequency of each NMR-active nucleus depends on its chemical environment. As a result, NMR spectra provide information about individual functional groups present in the sample, as well about connections between nearby nuclei in the same molecule. As the NMR spectra are unique or highly characteristic to individual compounds and functional groups, NMR spectroscopy is one of the most important methods to identify molecular structures, particularly of organic compounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electron paramagnetic resonance</span> Technique to study materials that have unpaired electrons

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a method for studying materials that have unpaired electrons. The basic concepts of EPR are analogous to those of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but the spins excited are those of the electrons instead of the atomic nuclei. EPR spectroscopy is particularly useful for studying metal complexes and organic radicals. EPR was first observed in Kazan State University by Soviet physicist Yevgeny Zavoisky in 1944, and was developed independently at the same time by Brebis Bleaney at the University of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance</span>

Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy is a technique for characterizing atomic level structure in solid materials e.g. powders, single crystals and amorphous samples and tissues using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The anisotropic part of many spin interactions are present in solid-state NMR, unlike in solution-state NMR where rapid tumbling motion averages out many of the spin interactions. As a result, solid-state NMR spectra are characterised by larger linewidths than in solution state NMR, which can be utilized to give quantitative information on the molecular structure, conformation and dynamics of the material. Solid-state NMR is often combined with magic angle spinning to remove anisotropic interactions and improve the resolution as well as the sensitivity of the technique.

Carbon-13 (C13) nuclear magnetic resonance is the application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to carbon. It is analogous to proton NMR and allows the identification of carbon atoms in an organic molecule just as proton NMR identifies hydrogen atoms. 13C NMR detects only the 13
C
isotope. The main carbon isotope, 12
C
does not produce an NMR signal. Although ca. 1 mln. times less sensitive than 1H NMR spectroscopy, 13C NMR spectroscopy is widely used for characterizing organic and organometallic compounds, primarily because 1H-decoupled 13C-NMR spectra are more simple, have a greater sensitivity to differences in the chemical structure, and, thus, are better suited for identifying molecules in complex mixtures. At the same time, such spectra lack quantitative information about the atomic ratios of different types of carbon nuclei, because nuclear Overhauser effect used in 1H-decoupled 13C-NMR spectroscopy enhances the signals from carbon atoms with a larger number of hydrogen atoms attached to them more than from carbon atoms with a smaller number of H's, and because full relaxation of 13C nuclei is usually not attained, and the nuclei with shorter relaxation times produce more intense signals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proton nuclear magnetic resonance</span> NMR via protons, hydrogen-1 nuclei

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance is the application of nuclear magnetic resonance in NMR spectroscopy with respect to hydrogen-1 nuclei within the molecules of a substance, in order to determine the structure of its molecules. In samples where natural hydrogen (H) is used, practically all the hydrogen consists of the isotope 1H.

Ferromagnetic resonance, or FMR, is coupling between an electromagnetic wave and the magnetization of a medium through which it passes. This coupling induces a significant loss of power of the wave. The power is absorbed by the precessing magnetization of the material and lost as heat. For this coupling to occur, the frequency of the incident wave must be equal to the precession frequency of the magnetization and the polarization of the wave must match the orientation of the magnetization.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins is a field of structural biology in which NMR spectroscopy is used to obtain information about the structure and dynamics of proteins, and also nucleic acids, and their complexes. The field was pioneered by Richard R. Ernst and Kurt Wüthrich at the ETH, and by Ad Bax, Marius Clore, Angela Gronenborn at the NIH, and Gerhard Wagner at Harvard University, among others. Structure determination by NMR spectroscopy usually consists of several phases, each using a separate set of highly specialized techniques. The sample is prepared, measurements are made, interpretive approaches are applied, and a structure is calculated and validated.

Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a set of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) methods which give data plotted in a space defined by two frequency axes rather than one. Types of 2D NMR include correlation spectroscopy (COSY), J-spectroscopy, exchange spectroscopy (EXSY), and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY). Two-dimensional NMR spectra provide more information about a molecule than one-dimensional NMR spectra and are especially useful in determining the structure of a molecule, particularly for molecules that are too complicated to work with using one-dimensional NMR.

In MRI and NMR spectroscopy, an observable nuclear spin polarization (magnetization) is created by a homogeneous magnetic field. This field makes the magnetic dipole moments of the sample precess at the resonance (Larmor) frequency of the nuclei. At thermal equilibrium, nuclear spins precess randomly about the direction of the applied field. They become abruptly phase coherent when they are hit by radiofrequency (RF) pulses at the resonant frequency, created orthogonal to the field. The RF pulses cause the population of spin-states to be perturbed from their thermal equilibrium value. The generated transverse magnetization can then induce a signal in an RF coil that can be detected and amplified by an RF receiver. The return of the longitudinal component of the magnetization to its equilibrium value is termed spin-latticerelaxation while the loss of phase-coherence of the spins is termed spin-spin relaxation, which is manifest as an observed free induction decay (FID).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear magnetic resonance quantum computer</span> Proposed spin-based quantum computer implementation

Nuclear magnetic resonance quantum computing (NMRQC) is one of the several proposed approaches for constructing a quantum computer, that uses the spin states of nuclei within molecules as qubits. The quantum states are probed through the nuclear magnetic resonances, allowing the system to be implemented as a variation of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. NMR differs from other implementations of quantum computers in that it uses an ensemble of systems, in this case molecules, rather than a single pure state.

Insensitive nuclei enhancement by polarization transfer (INEPT) is a signal enhancement method used in NMR spectroscopy. It involves the transfer of nuclear spin polarization from spins with large Boltzmann population differences to nuclear spins of interest with lower Boltzmann population differences. INEPT uses J-coupling for the polarization transfer in contrast to Nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE), which arises from dipolar cross-relaxation. This method of signal enhancement was introduced by Ray Freeman in 1979. Due to its usefulness in signal enhancement, pulse sequences used in heteronuclear NMR experiments often contain blocks of INEPT or INEPT-like sequences.

In nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics, J-couplings are mediated through chemical bonds connecting two spins. It is an indirect interaction between two nuclear spins that arises from hyperfine interactions between the nuclei and local electrons. In NMR spectroscopy, J-coupling contains information about relative bond distances and angles. Most importantly, J-coupling provides information on the connectivity of chemical bonds. It is responsible for the often complex splitting of resonance lines in the NMR spectra of fairly simple molecules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zero field NMR</span> Acquisition of NMR spectra of chemicals

Zero- to ultralow-field (ZULF) NMR is the acquisition of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of chemicals with magnetically active nuclei in an environment carefully screened from magnetic fields. ZULF NMR experiments typically involve the use of passive or active shielding to attenuate Earth’s magnetic field. This is in contrast to the majority of NMR experiments which are performed in high magnetic fields provided by superconducting magnets. In ZULF experiments the dominant interactions are nuclear spin-spin couplings, and the coupling between spins and the external magnetic field is a perturbation to this. There are a number of advantages to operating in this regime: magnetic-susceptibility-induced line broadening is attenuated which reduces inhomogeneous broadening of the spectral lines for samples in heterogeneous environments. Another advantage is that the low frequency signals readily pass through conductive materials such as metals due to the increased skin depth; this is not the case for high-field NMR for which the sample containers are usually made of glass, quartz or ceramic.

Magnetization transfer (MT), in NMR and MRI, refers to the transfer of nuclear spin polarization and/or spin coherence from one population of nuclei to another population of nuclei, and to techniques that make use of these phenomena. There is some ambiguity regarding the precise definition of magnetization transfer, however the general definition given above encompasses all more specific notions. NMR active nuclei, those with non-zero spin, can be energetically coupled to one another under certain conditions. The mechanisms of nuclear-spin energy-coupling have been extensively characterized and are described in the following articles: Angular momentum coupling, Magnetic dipole–dipole interaction, J-coupling, Residual dipolar coupling, Nuclear Overhauser effect, Spin–spin relaxation, and Spin saturation transfer. Alternatively, some nuclei in a chemical system are labile and exchange between non-equivalent environments. A more specific example of this case is presented in the section Chemical Exchange Magnetization transfer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance</span> Spectroscopy technique for molecules containing phosphorus

Phosphorus-31 NMR spectroscopy is an analytical chemistry technique that uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study chemical compounds that contain phosphorus. Phosphorus is commonly found in organic compounds and coordination complexes, making it useful to measure 31- NMR spectra routinely. Solution 31P-NMR is one of the more routine NMR techniques because 31P has an isotopic abundance of 100% and a relatively high gyromagnetic ratio. The 31P nucleus also has a spin of 1/2, making spectra relatively easy to interpret. The only other highly sensitive NMR-active nuclei spin 1/2 that are monoisotopic are 1H and 19F.

Nuclear magnetic resonance decoupling is a special method used in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy where a sample to be analyzed is irradiated at a certain frequency or frequency range to eliminate fully or partially the effect of coupling between certain nuclei. NMR coupling refers to the effect of nuclei on each other in atoms within a couple of bonds distance of each other in molecules. This effect causes NMR signals in a spectrum to be split into multiple peaks. Decoupling fully or partially eliminates splitting of the signal between the nuclei irradiated and other nuclei such as the nuclei being analyzed in a certain spectrum. NMR spectroscopy and sometimes decoupling can help determine structures of chemical compounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear magnetic resonance</span> Spectroscopic technique based on change of nuclear spin state

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus. This process occurs near resonance, when the oscillation frequency matches the intrinsic frequency of the nuclei, which depends on the strength of the static magnetic field, the chemical environment, and the magnetic properties of the isotope involved; in practical applications with static magnetic fields up to ca. 20 tesla, the frequency is similar to VHF and UHF television broadcasts (60–1000 MHz). NMR results from specific magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is widely used to determine the structure of organic molecules in solution and study molecular physics and crystals as well as non-crystalline materials. NMR is also routinely used in advanced medical imaging techniques, such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The original application of NMR to condensed matter physics is nowadays mostly devoted to strongly correlated electron systems. It reveals large manybody couplings by fast broadband detection and it should not to be confused with solid state NMR, which aims at removing the effect of the same couplings by Magic Angle Spinning techniques.

Electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) is a magnetic resonance technique for elucidating the molecular and electronic structure of paramagnetic species. The technique was first introduced to resolve interactions in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. It is currently practiced in a variety of modalities, mainly in the areas of biophysics and heterogeneous catalysis.

A Benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer refers to a Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (FT-NMR) spectrometer that is significantly more compact and portable than the conventional equivalents, such that it is portable and can reside on a laboratory benchtop. This convenience comes from using permanent magnets, which have a lower magnetic field and decreased sensitivity compared to the much larger and more expensive cryogen cooled superconducting NMR magnets. Instead of requiring dedicated infrastructure, rooms and extensive installations these benchtop instruments can be placed directly on the bench in a lab and moved as necessary. These spectrometers offer improved workflow, even for novice users, as they are simpler and easy to use. They differ from relaxometers in that they can be used to measure high resolution NMR spectra and are not limited to the determination of relaxation or diffusion parameters.

References

  1. Robinson J. N.; et al. (2006). "Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy in Earth's magnetic field" (PDF). Journal of Magnetic Resonance. 182 (2): 343–347. Bibcode:2006JMagR.182..343R. doi:10.1016/j.jmr.2006.06.027. PMID   16860581.