Benchtop NMR Spectrometer Helps to Teach Students how to Apply NMR for their Future Laboratory Career

Dr Maria Vogt is Professor of Chemistry at Bloomfield College, an undergraduate college in New Jersey. She teaches lectures and runs labs in Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry.

When she talks about her ‘work’, Dr Vogt comes across as a real enthusiast. “NMR is essential at many levels of chemistry. Providing a foundation in the analysis of simple samples by NMR at the undergraduate level will help prepare my students for the interpretation of the much more complex spectra of more complex molecules.”

Purchase costs, prohibitive maintenance bills and complex operating conditions all made the thoughts of obtaining an NMR for undergraduates all but impossible. As she said: “For many years, no one was interested in manufacturing a simple NMR for undergraduate student use. It was all about the big-bucks systems. In recent years, however, I became aware of three or four such instruments becoming available. I looked into them but, quite frankly, was less than thrilled with their performance until Magritek came into the picture. Magritek's Spinsolve is by far the easiest instrument to use. It is also extremely fast, with an excellent spectrum generated and printed out in a minute or two. The software is intuitive. I want the kids to run their own spectra and then analyse the results.”

“For me, Spinsolve is also great because of its less-than-prohibitive cost and simplicity while generating excellent data for a less-than-500 MHz instrument. It requires no maintenance, just careful and clean preparation of samples. The instrument has only two moving parts: the ON/OFF switch and the fan. Finally, it is not a space hog.”

There are huge practical reasons for choosing Magritek. Dr Vogt concluded. “Even sophisticated research operations could benefit and save time and money by having a Magritek Spinsolve right there in the lab. Wouldn't it be time-and-effort-saving to just run a quick sample right there in the lab before sending it out for more detailed analysis using a million dollar instrument, run by a designated PhD-prepared chemist who is most likely a distance away and has a back-log of samples to run? The Magritek's small footprint and ease of use make it ideal for such an application.”