Core Capability for Chemistry Research at Oxford

现代化学科学的发展几乎完全依赖于高度精密的仪器为研究化学家提供有关分子结构、性质及其与其他化学或物理物质相互作用的信息。这些信息对于改善健康的新药物的设计和开发，对于更安全和更环保的社会的新材料，以及作为现代生活基础的无数精细化学品，都是至关重要的。它对于发明制造这些材料所需的新化学工艺也是必不可少的。研究化学家使用的主要仪器方法是核磁共振（NMR）光谱和质谱（MS）。核磁共振可能被认为是更广泛认可的磁共振成像技术（MRI）的表亲，磁共振成像技术在临床上用于研究我们身体组织的结构。核磁共振不是详细描述整个组织的结构，而是通过定义化合物内原子的环境以及这些原子连接在一起的方式，为化学家提供了关于单个分子结构的精细细节。质谱法是一种称量单个分子的技术，从而确定组成目标分子的元素的类型和数量。因此，通过核磁共振和质谱技术的结合应用，研究人员可以可靠地识别化学结构。这些知识反过来又为理解化学和化学反应提供了基础，从而在现代化学研究的许多方面取得了进展。牛津大学化学系支持非常大量的核磁共振和质谱研究设施，为约600名化学家提供核心研究基础设施，并提供各种最先进的结构表征分析方法。这些设施包括现代规范的工具,安装或升级在过去5年内,它还房屋大量的仪器超过10岁,缺乏能力,效率和可靠性的现代同行所以需要更换(同样,一辆车在10岁不符合规范的现代车辆和可能需要替换来达到最好的和最可靠的性能)。因此，在此申请中，我们正在寻求资金，用最先进的仪器更换或升级3台核磁共振光谱仪和3台质谱仪，以便更好地支持化学系以及与其合作的许多部门或研究所的当前研究活动。这也将确保在未来几年获得可靠的仪器，消除我们对不再适合现代研究实验室目的的分析仪器的依赖。这些新设备将通过提供关键的研究基础设施，帮助确保该系在化学科学研究和教学方面保持领先地位。

The development of modern chemical science is almost entirely dependent on highly sophisticated instrumentation to provide research chemists with information on molecular structures, their properties and their interactions with other chemical or physical species. Such information is critical for the design and development of new pharmaceuticals for improved health, new materials for safer and greener societies, and for myriad fine chemicals that underlie modern living. It is also essential for the invention of novel chemical processes that are required to make these. Primary amongst the instrumental methods employed by research chemists are Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry (MS). NMR may be considered a cousin of the more widely recognised technique of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) used clinically to investigate the structure of tissues in our bodies. Rather than detailing the structures of whole tissues, NMR provides chemists with exquisite detail on the structures of individual molecules by defining the environments of atoms within the compound and the way in which these are joined (bonded) together. Mass Spectrometry is a technique for weighing individual molecules and thereby defining the type and number elements that comprise the target molecule. Thus, through the combined application of NMR and MS techniques, researchers can reliably identify chemical structures. This knowledge, in turn, provides the foundation for understanding chemistry, chemical reactions and hence advances in numerous lines of modern chemical research. The Chemistry Department at Oxford University supports very substantial NMR and MS research facilities that provide core research infrastructure for ~ 600 chemists, and makes available a diverse range of state-of-the-art analytical methods for structure characterisation. Whilst these facilities include instruments of modern specification, installed or upgraded within the last 5 years, it also houses a significant number of instruments that are over 10 years old and lack the capabilities, efficiency and reliability of their modern counterparts so are in need of replacement (in much that same way that a car over 10 years old would not match the specifications of a modern vehicle and is likely to need replacing to achieve the best and most reliable performance). Thus, in this application we are seeking funds to replace or upgrade 3 NMR spectrometers and 3 mass spectrometers with state-of-the-art instruments so as to better support current research activities within the Chemistry Department and with the many departments or institutes with which it collaborates. This will also ensure access to reliable instruments in future years, removing our dependence on analytical instruments that are no longer fit for purpose in modern research laboratories. This new equipment will help ensure the department remains at the forefront of research and teaching in the chemical sciences by providing the critical research infrastructure this demands.