Introducing the World’s Smallest Footprint EMR System

Oxford Instruments Magnetic Resonance launched an important addition to its range of benchtop instrumentation at Pittcon 2012 in Orlando. With applications in the foods sector, the AffirmoEX is a natural complement to Oxford Instruments' wellestablished MQC nuclear magnetic resonance systems. It could provide a solution to the academic market place where the EMR technique has become under-used due to the obsolescence of existing instrumentation and the previously  prohibitively high cost of buying a new instrument. Occupying minimal bench space AffirmoEX does not require the large magnets and cooling systems needed by older style systems. It will be offered with a curriculum package for teaching professionals to bring the technique back into the laboratories of the 21st century with a modular program backed with online and written documentation.

Electron Magnetic Resonance (EMR), also known as electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and as electron spin resonance (ESR), was first introduced more than sixty years ago, developed simultaneously but independently in Kazan, Russia and Oxford, England. Capable of measuring unpaired electrons which are characteristic of free radicals and of complexes containing transition metal ions in a sample, EMR offers a highly selective technique for free radical and transition metal oxidation state investigations. Applications include oxidation, free radical polymerisation and a wide range of biochemical processes. Similarly, understanding the oxidation state of inorganic transition metal complexes gives vital information to the analysis of processes such as those associated with catalysis. Oxford Instruments' Product Marketing Manager, John Paul Cerroti, says "AffirmoEX is a perfect pairing with our existing NMR products. The technologies lie in the same field, but the applications are complementary, and bring real value to our customers both in academia and industry." Talking about the principal markets for the product, he continued "Our key markets for the AffirmoEX will initially be academia, both for teaching and research, the food industry and the transport and engineering industries. However, as EMR has such a wide range of potential applications, we expect to be discussing the value of EMR with many other industries very quickly."