Connect NMR UK Newsletter 22/11/23

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News and Updates

 

Make sure to register for the RSC NMR discussion group and the British Radiofrequency Spectroscopy Group Christmas meetings taking place in London on 14^th and 15^th December!

Connect NMR UK are providing support to both events through our Training Mobility Grant so make sure to get your applications in before the meetings take place in order to be eligible for the grant!

 

Representatives of Connect NMR UK will be attending the RSC NMR discussion group and the British Radiofrequency Spectroscopy Group Christmas meetings as well as the Annual Henry Wellcome Building-NMR symposium so make sure to come speak to us if you have any ideas or thoughts about the network

 

If you would like to attend a training course in NMR or visit a facility for training purposes or access to techniques, hardware or tools that are beyond your local capabilities, the Connect NMR UK Call for Training Mobility Grant can support your visit

 

If you are interested in organising an NMR workshop for training researchers and would like support, please get in contact (Benjamin.duff@liverpool.ac.uk) and we would be happy to provide whatever support we can!

 

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Job Opportunities

 

Research fellow, University of Southampton, closes 24^th November

Research associate, Imperial College London, closes 30^th November

Research fellow, University of Warwick, closes 13^th December

Bio NMR scientist, University of Leeds, closes 28^th November

PhD studentship, University of Manchester, closes 30^th November

PhD studentship, University of Liverpool, closes 27^th November

PhD studentship, University of York, closes 7^th January

PhD studentship, University of York, closes 7^th January

PhD studentship, University of Manchester, closes 19^th January

PhD studentship, University of Warwick, closes 1^st April

PhD studentship, University of Warwick, closes 10^th December

PhD studentship, University of Nottingham, closes 30^th September

PhD studentship, University of Manchester, applications accepted year round

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Research Highlights

 

If you have recently published some interesting NMR research and would like to have your research highlighted in our newsletter, please feel free to get in contact!

 

^{31P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy as a Probe of Thorium–Phosphorus Bond Covalency: Correlating Phosphorus Chemical Shift to Metal–Phosphorus Bond Order}

A significant challenge in actinide chemistry is the reliable determination of the nature of the bonding between ligands and actinides. Teams at the University of Manchester, in collaboration with the University of Regensberg, have reported a method of using ³¹P NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with Density Functional Theory calculations to benchmark the covalency of actinide-phosphorous bonds in order to introduce ³¹P NMR as a method for quantitative determination of metal-ligand covalency in f-element chemistry. This method was exemplified using a family of four Th complexes which exhibit Th–PH₂, Th═PH, Th–P(H)–Th, and Th═P═Th linkages. Through modelling of solution and solid-state data with computational analysis the ³¹P NMR spectra have been decomposed into their constituent chemical shift tensors giving information about the chemical shift anisotropies, and thus bonding, of the P-environments in the four complexes, revealing a record CSA span for a bridging phosphido center.

 

Mechanistic Insights into Molecular Crystalline Organometallic Heterogeneous Catalysis through Parahydrogen-Based Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies

Parahydrogen induced polarization (PHIP) has been widely used to study molecular homogeneous catalysis in solution and the mechanisms involved, PHIP can be further utilised for the study of  heterogeneous solid-gas reactions. Researchers at the University of York, in collaboration with Durham University have shown that gas-phase NMR analysis with the aid of PHIP can deliver real-time insights into changes in catalyst speciation of a solid-state molecular organometallic (SMOM) heterogeneous catalyst Rh(tBu₂PCH₂CH₂PtBu₂)(propene)][BArF₄], [ArF = 3,5-(CF₃)₂C₆H₃] by correlating molecular level changes to the catalyst with both product identity and flux in the, industrially important, catalytic solid/gas hydrogenation of unsaturated C3 (propene, propyne) and C4 (butene/butyne) substrates at 298 K.

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Upcoming Events

Annual Henry Wellcome Building-NMR Symposium – 8^th December 2023 at University of Birmingham

Taming Disorder in Solid Materials – 12^th – 13^th December 2023 at Durham University

NMR discussion group Christmas meeting – 14^th December 2023 in London

British Radiofrequency Spectroscopy Group – 15^th December 2023 at Institute of Physics, London

Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference (ENC) – 7^th – 11^th April 2024 in California, USA

European Magnetic Resonance Congress (Euromar) – 30^th June – 4^th July 2024 in Bilbao, Spain