Light-NMR spectroscopy: tools and applications

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Light is a form of electromagnetic energy that surrounds and affects matter around us: a myriad of chemical reactions and life processes depend on light. Light is very easy to produce and control, and therefore it can be an ideal trigger that connects our macroscopic world with nanoscale or molecular objects, to modulate material properties, chemical reactions, molecular switches, nano-devices, gene expression, targeted drug release, and many other physical processes. How light modulates matter, and how it can be used to control it, is one of the most important questions in science. New and more powerful analytical approaches are needed to reveal and closely monitor the effects of light on complex chemical systems, for example, photoenzymes emerging from chemical and synthetic biology fields, to explore and optimise the mechanisms involved. NMR spectroscopy is one of the most powerful and universal techniques in chemistry, physics and life sciences to study the properties and structure of matter. NMR spectral parameters are sensitive to chemical and 3D structure of molecules present in the samples, as well as their local environment. Therefore NMR is routinely used for confirming the identity of molecular structures, quality and purity analysis, chemical reaction monitoring, as well as monitoring the changes in conformation and molecular dynamics. The project aims at developing tools for combining illumination with NMR experiments, so that the whole power of NMR can be applied to studies of photochemical and photoenzymatic systems.