PFI-TT: Device for High-throughput Parallel Measurement in NMR Spectroscopy

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to advance a new high-throughput chemical analysis system for applications such as pharmaceutical drug discovery. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a non-invasive technique that provides data on the structure of unknown chemicals, identifies the composition of mixtures, and monitors chemical reactions. Traditional devices are expensive and occupy large footprints due to the technological limitations of the strong magnets within. This project advances a new device addressing these limitations. This project develops a user-friendly, highly affordable system with throughput 50-100 times that of current devices. The proposed project aims to overcome a longstanding challenge in chemical analysis by developing a system which performs NMR spectroscopy on multiple samples simultaneously, with throughput many times greater than that of existing systems. The proposed zero-to-ultralow field NMR (ZULF-NMR) spectroscopy is performed inside benchtop-scale magnetically shielded spaces. This system will aid the development of robotic chemistry systems through its rapid chemical measurement capabilities, which will supply much-needed data to the machine learning models that automate the robots. It will work for samples in opaque or metallic containers, which traditional NMR cannot accommodate. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.