Boston College

With more than $1.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the University (in the form of a matching grant), the chemistry department’s Center for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) recently installed four state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers and allied computing equipment for use in biomolecular and organic chemistry. The spectrometers analyze reflected electromagnetic energy to create images of chemical compounds, allowing researchers to identify and study molecules’ composition, structure, and dynamics. The six- to eight-foot tall devices, designed by Varian, are composed of an interior thermos-like container holding superconducting magnetic coils submerged in liquid helium (-452 degrees Fahrenheit) surrounded by a second thermos filled with liquid nitrogen (-320 degrees Fahrenheit). The frigid environment is necessary to produce superconductivity in the magnets. In the Merkert Chemistry Center facility on January 4 were, from left, the NMR center’s director, John Boylan, and Ph.D. chemistry students Jamie O’Brien, Laura Brozek, and David Moebius ’04.