Instrument Access

Service Spectra

The lab staff can usually provide modest amounts of service work on any of the spectrometer systems in the facility. Turn around time for service work can vary from as little as a day or two to a month or more, depending on the amount of time required, the instrument required, other staff commitments, and other service work waiting. Service spectra are normally used by very low volume users, especially those outside of the chemistry department, who are not checked out to run their own spectra.

Inova-300, Mercury-300, VXR-300

These systems are all routine access proton/carbon spectrometers that are used for short-term, rapid-turn around access. The Inova300 also has fluorine and phosphorus capability, and the VXR-300 is used in the undergraduate organic lab. Reservations are limited to 30 minutes during the day (roughly 8 or 9 AM to 10 or 11 PM depending on the system) and may not be made more than several hours in advance (same day only).

Instruction on these instruments is done in small groups of 2 or 3, typically within a week or 10 days of completing the class registration form. It assumes no prior knowledge of NMR and gives you enough basics to get simple proton and carbon spectra.

Inova 400

This system is used primarily for broadband, multinuclear observation. It has a 5 mm broadband probe (¹⁵N to ³¹P) and three 10 mm broadband probes, covering the 9-161 MHz. These probes are changed as needed depending on user requests. There is a web-form to request a probe change. The probes are not typically changed more often than every two weeks. In addition to the broadband probes, there is also a 5mm proton probe available for doing higher-field proton spectra.

Inova 500

The Inova 500 system is designed as a routine access proton/carbon system for higher field experiments. Its higher field strength and sensitivity will benefit both larger molecules and smaller sample sizes. The system is equipped with a pulsed field gradient accessory and provision for performing gradient shimming on the deuterium lock channel.

Avance 400

The Avance 400 system is configured exclusively for solid state operation. Users will be checked out on the system, and time will be scheduled by the facility staff 2-3 weeks in advance. Work will be scheduled in order to minimize probe changes, and users will not be permitted to change probes themselves. There are 2.5, 4, and 7 mm CP-MAS probes as well as 5 and 10 mm Wideline probes available.

Unity500 and Inova500B

The two 500 MHz systems are configured primarily for indirect detection experiments, although the Unity500 also has a 5mm broadband probe covering ¹⁵N to ³¹P. Access to these systems is scheduled a month in advance and is generally scheduled in larger chunks of time, typically 3-5 days at a time. Service time is not routinely scheduled on these systems, so service work may wait as much as 5-6 weeks before time can be scheduled. Use is typically by one or two experienced operators in each research group.

Instruction on these systems is done on an individual basis, and usually requires at least three days on the system. Since instruction time is not scheduled until needed, it may take 5-6 weeks or more from the time a request is received until instruction can be completed.

Requests for time on the 500 MHz systems, whether for instruction, service work, or scheduled group time, need to be e-mailed to s-silber@tamu.edu by the 20th of each month in order to be scheduled during the following month.

Biochemistry Inova 500 and Inova 600

The Biochemistry department has two high field systems, at 500 MHz and 600 MHz. The chemistry department has limited access to these systems, and that time should be scheduled the same way that time on the two Chemistry department 500 systems is scheduled, by e-mail request to s-silber@tamu.edu by the 20th of the month for the following month. Users who are checked out on the 500 MHz systems in Chemistry can also be checked out on the Biochemistry systems if necessary. The Biochemistry systems are configured primarily for protein and dna work, and do not include any broadband probes. Here is a brief summary of the configuration of these two systems (refer to the Biochemistry page for more information):

Inova 500

This system has 4 RF channels, 2 broadband (everything except Proton/Fluorine) and 2 full band (Everything), with 2 waveform generators. It includes a 3-axis PFG accessory, a Penta-Probe (¹H{C¹³C/¹⁵N/³¹P}) with 3-axis gradients and a 5mm ¹H{¹³C}{X} probe with Z-axis gradient coil.

Inova 600

This system is also a 4 channel system with 3 waveform generators and 3-axis PFG accessory. The probes available here are 5mm and 8mm ¹H{¹³C}{¹⁵N} indirect detect probes, both with gradients. The 5 mm probe has 3-axis gradients and the 8 mm probe has a Z-axis gradient.