Solid state NMR (ssNMR) is a fascinating technique that has variety of uses e.g. determines structure, molecular motions and interactions of molecules, from small drugs to proteins and nucleic acids.

The main difference between liquid and solid state NMR is that in liquid, the anisotropic interactions,i.e. interactions that depend on their orientation with respect to the direction of the external magnetic field, are averaged while in ssNMR they are not. As a result broad peaks are observed instead of nice resolved sharp peaks. Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) is a technique that can suppress these anisotropic interactions improving significantly the resolution of the recorded NMR spectra.

In my project I investigate samples composed of mixtures of solutions and solids. 1H MAS NMR experiments are performed using our impressive 500 MHz Bruker Spectrometer using a 4mm MAS Bruker Rotor and Probe.

The main aim of this project is to understand the interaction between the analyte and its mobile phase and analyte with a stationary phase. In order to do that we measure various relaxation rates on a series of different analytes with one mobile phase and 3 different stationary phases.