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Facility Use
The vast majority of NMR spectra in the JB Stothers NMR Facility are acquired directly by trained users. This section describes all aspects related to utilizing the NMR spectrometers within the NMR facility.
User Rates
The rates below are for users who are acquiring their own NMR spectra. The rates for service work, where NMR facility staff acquire the spectra on your behalf, can be found on the liquids-NMR service and solid-state NMR service pages.
The rates differ depending on the day and time. The rates are higher during prime-time hours, which are considered to be between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm on weekdays.
The rates for Western researchers that are not part of, or affiliated with, the chemistry department are double those listed in the table below.
| User Rates (Liquids NMR) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Spectrometer | Prime-Time ($/hour) | Non-Prime ($/hour) | Training ($/Session) |
| Bruker 400 | 6.00 | 3.50 | 20.00 |
| Inova 400 | 6.00 | 3.50 | 20.00 |
| Inova 600 | 6.00 | 3.50 | 20.00 |
Policies
General Policies
- The safety rules must be followed at all times.
- A wet-lab, MSA room 0216A, is available for use at all times by any user of the NMR facility. After use, please clean-up after yourself.
- Lab coats and gloves are not permitted inside MSA room 0216B. Coats can be placed in the NMR facility’s wet-lab (MSA 0216A) and gloves can be discarded in the wet-lab’s garbage.
- Broken, cracked, and heavily used NMR sample tubes must not be used. NMR tubes must be a minimum of 7” in length.
- All users will added to the NMR e-mail list and must read any e-mails sent out by the NMR facility.
- Every Thursday, one of the three spectrometers will be unavailable from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm. A schedule for each semester will be sent out via e-mail and/or posted on the facility’s website.
- An offline computer is available for processing NMR data using the VnmrJ software. Alternately, ACD labs NMR software may be borrowed from the facility and installed on your own computer.
- The NMR Facility's data server is not designed for data storage, thus your NMR data should be transferred via secure FTP shortly after acquisition. All NMR data is removed each summer; notice of the exact date will be provided via e-mail.
- If there are serious problems with the spectrometers during weekday evenings or weekends, please e-mail chemnmr@uwo.ca with a description of the problem.
Bruker 400 policies
- Experiments submitted between 9:00 am – 6:00 pm on weekdays that are longer than 30 minutes will automatically be submitted to the night queue and begin after 6:00 pm.
- Samples must be clearly labeled with your supervisor’s initials using a permanent marker on the cap itself, not the NMR tube. Additional labels can be placed on the side of the cap.
- Samples should be picked up within 48 hours of completion of the NMR experiment(s). Samples are placed in the plastic tray on the computer table labeled “Current Week”. On Friday afternoon of the current week, any remaining samples are transferred to the tray labeled “Last Week”, which is on the Bruker console. At the end of the following week, any samples left in the “Last Week” tray are placed in the “Free NMR Tubes” box and are free to any user of the facility.
Inova 400 and 600 policies
- Time on the Inova spectrometers is booked using the FACES NMR website, faces.ccrc.uga.edu. Each user will be granted their own personal FACES account after receiving Inova training. Under no circumstances are users allowed to book time using another user’s FACES account.
- Arrive at your reserved NMR time promptly and ensure that you do not use more than your reserved time.
- NMR time must be reserved regardless of the time or day.
- No more than two hours of consecutive time can be booked on weekdays between 9:00 am – 6:00 pm; 3 hours are permitted for titrations, variable-temperature, and kinetics experiments upon approval by an NMR facility staff member.
- The logbook must be signed every time an experiment is performed. Any problems and unusual spectrometer behaviour may be noted in the logbook.
- Odd nuclei or variable-temperature experiments are not to be performed until training has been received from NMR facility staff.
Facility Notes
Several series of note have been developed by the staff of the NMR facility. These notes cover all aspects of performing NMR experiments in the NMR facility.
Training
NMR for New Users
About this training session
This training session is for researchers who are new to Western who would like to use the NMR facility. In this training session new users are given a tour of the NMR facility, safety in the facility and facility policies are covered, and the hands-on operation of the automated Bruker 400 is covered.
Session length: About 60 minutes.
Prerequisite: None.
Session dates and sign-up method
This training is regularly offered in early January, May and September and persons can sign-up using the provided link to the online registration website. For researchers arriving at Western at abnormal start times, training can be requested by contacting the NMR facility staff via e-mail. This session takes about an hour.
Who should attend this session?
This training session is mandatory for all new users of the NMR facility who will be using the facility on a fairly regular basis (minimum of once every 3 months). If you are going to be using the facility infrequently, it is best to have either a group member or a NMR facility staff member perform your NMR experiments on your behalf.
NMR on the Inova Spectrometers
About this training session
In this training session, the use of the Inova spectrometers to acquire basic 1D and 2D NMR spectra is described. At the end of the session, users are given a FACES account that they can use to reserve spectrometer time on either the Inova 400 or Inova 600. Note that processing of the NMR spectra is not covered.
Session length: About 70 minutes.
Prerequisite: All persons must have attended the NMR for New Users training session.
Session dates and sign-up method
Training is regulary offered in early January, May and September and persons can sign-up using the provided link to the online registration website. For researchers arriving at Western at abnormal start times, training can be requested by contacting the NMR facility staff via e-mail.
Who should attend this session?
This training session is for users who frequently use the NMR facility and wish to acquire NMR spectra on the Inova spectrometers.
Variable-Temperature (VT) NMR
About this training session
This training is mandatory for all users who would like to perform NMR experiment above or below room-temperature. In this training session, the proper way to perform VT experiments on the Inova spectrometers without damaging the equipment is discussed.
Session length: About 20 minutes.
Prerequisite: All persons must have attended the NMR for New Users and NMR on the Inova Spectrometers training sessions.
Session dates and sign-up method
Training can be requested by contacting the NMR facility staff via e-mail.
Who should attend this session?
This training session is mandatory for frequent users who wish to perform VT experiments on the Inova spectrometers.
Odd-Nuclei NMR
About this training session
In this training session, the method to acquire NMR spectra on odd-nuclei, those other than 1H, 13C, 19F or 31P, is covered. Special attention is given to tuning the NMR probe to the desired nucleus and back to the default configuration without damaging the NMR probe.
Session length: About 60 minutes.
Prerequisite: All persons must have attended the NMR for New Users and NMR on the Inova Spectrometers training sessions.
Session dates and sign-up method
Training can be requested by contacting the NMR facility staff via e-mail.
Who should attend this session?
This training session is mandatory for frequent users who would like to perform NMR experiments on nuclei other than 1H, 13C, 19F or 31P.
Reserving NMR Time
Procedure
In order to use the Inova 400 or Inova 600 NMR spectrometers, NMR time must be reserved. Our facility utilizes the FACES NMR website, which was developed by, and is maintained by, the Complex Carbohydrate Research Group at the University of Georgia to reserve NMR time.
The procedure outlined below is used to reserve NMR time. A more detailed set of instructions can be downloaded by clicking here
- Complete the NMR on the Inova Spectrometers training session. You will be given your own unique FACES username and password at the end of this training session.
- Go to the FACES NMR website.
- Log-in using your given username and password. The group name for all users is uwonmr.
- Under the drop-down list labeled "Choose a Schedule", select either the Inova 400 or Inova 600. A calendar of the current week will be displayed.
- Place the cursor over the desired time and day and left-click.
- If a 10-minute reservation if sufficient, then left-click again. If more time is desired, move the cursor down until the correct time period is selected; left-click to select the appointment.
- At the next window, verify that the day and time are correct, then click on the "Go!" button.
- The message, "Your appointment was successfully added to the Schedule." should appear. Click on the "OK" button.
- If additional time is to be booked on the same spectrometer, repeat steps 5-8. If time is to booked on a different spectrometer, repeat steps 4-8.
- When all desired reservations have been made, click on "Logout".
Policies and Rules
The following rules must be followed when reserving NMR time:
- The minimum reservation is 10 minutes.
- Please show-up promptly at your reserved time and do not exceed your allotted time.
- During prime-time, a maximum of 2 hours per day may be reserved per person. For example, the 2 hour maximum can be 4 30-minute time slots, or 1 2-hour reservation.
- For users that are acquiring multiple NMR spectra and must remain at the spectrometer the entire time (for example, VT experiments, kinetics studies, titrations), a maximum of 3 hours may be reserved per day per person. A 3-hour reservation must be approved by an NMR facility staff member.
- No user shall reserve NMR time for another user.
- From Sunday through Thursday, overnight experiments must start after 6:00 pm and must be completed by 9:00 am the following day.
- On the Inova 600 only: Between the hours of 11:00 am and 1:00 pm, the maximum reservation time is 30 minutes per person, with no more than 1 reservation per person.
- If you fail to show up for your reservation, you will still be charged for the entire reservation time.
