picoSpin Spectrometer Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions General Questions Is the Thermo Scientific™ picoSpin™ 45 NMR spectrometer really the world’s first compact NMR spectrometer? Haven’t desktop NMR machines been around for years? In a proton NMR spectrum, lines are typically separated by a few parts per million (ppm). To qualify as a true spectrometer, an NMR system must have resolution well below 1 ppm. The picoSpin 45’s resolution is better than 0.06 ppm, or 60 ppb (parts per billion). Before the picoSpin 45, all commercial compact NMR machines had resolution that was too poor for them to qualify as spectrometers. They...

Frequently Asked Questions Sample Handling Why does the picoSpin have a capillary cartridge? For convenient replacement. When reasonable precautions are observed, problems with clogging and contamination of the capillary can be avoided. However, accidents do occur, and when they do, it is a great advantage to be able to replace the capillary in the field. Cartridge changes only take a few minutes. The unit should be reshimmed whenever the cartridge is changed. What experiments can I do other than 1-D spectroscopy? The picoSpin contains a general-purpose programmable pulse sequencer with 20 ns...

Frequently Asked Questions Chemical Applications Chemical Applications What kind of samples can I measure? Any proton-containing liquid, not too viscous for injection into a 0.4 mm ID capillary, can be used. Will the signal I am looking for be strong enough to see? Good question! It is always a good idea to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) before you get started with unfamiliar samples. The exact SNR depends on many things, including the magnet shim and the way data is recorded and analyzed. However, you can usually make an adequate estimate like this: The picoSpin single-scan SNR for...

Frequently Asked Questions Installation Installation Where can I install a picoSpin spectrometer? There are no special facilities or environmental requirements. You can place a picoSpin spectrometer in any indoor location where a person would be comfortable; however, temperature changes must be gradual during the course of a data acquisition. AC magnetic fields generated by nearby utility power that are stronger than 1 mGauss amplitude will cause small side-bands to appear on spectra. In unusual cases where this is a problem, the unit can be oriented so that the AC field vector is perpendicular...