NMR Spectroscopy

The School has a long-standing and evolving commitment to the application of high field NMR spectroscopy to the study of biomolecular structure, analyte identification and quantification in tissues and fluids, in the kinetics of membrane transport and metabolism, and in molecular diffusion. Concomitant with the applications has been the implementation and design of novel NMR procedures for the study of biological systems including magnetic field and diffusion theory relating to cells and the development of new radio-frequency pulse sequences.

The School houses a Bruker DRX400 wide-bore NMR spectrometer equipped with a mini0.5 micro-imaging system for small animals, a high field gradient (1000 G/cm) diffusion probe, a Doty variable angle spinning probe, and several high resolution probes. It also houses a Bruker DRX600 that is used for protein structural and high-sensitivity metabolism work.

Members of the School are part of a multi-campus consortium that has been involved in the purchase of an 800 MHz spectrometer located at the ANU. A recent acquisition in collaboration with the School of Physics is a Minispec low resolution spectrometer primarily for educational use.

• Prof Philip Kuchel - Cellular function and diffusion
• Dr Joel Mackay - Protein structure and interactions