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Blog entry by Vivian James

Comparison of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Comparison of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Introduction

Like
UV and IR, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance
(EPR) are also absorption spectra.

 

NMR
and EPR involve placing the sample in a strong magnetic field and then
irradiating the sample with a radio frequency source. NMR is a resonant
transition that causes the atomic nucleus with a magnetic moment to undergo a
magnetic energy level; and ESR is a resonant transition that causes unpaired
electrons to generate a spin energy level.

 

Main differences between NMR and EPR


EPR is to study the interaction between electron magnetic moment and external
magnetic field, which is generally considered to be caused by electronic Zeeman
effect, while NMR is to study the transition between nuclear Zeeman energy
levels of atomic nuclei in external magnetic field. In other words, EPR and NMR
study the energy required to reorient electron magnetic moments and nuclear
magnetic moments in an external magnetic field, respectively.

 


The resonant frequency of EPR is in the microwave band, and the resonant
frequency of NMR is in the radio frequency band. Note: The external static
magnetic field of electron paramagnetic EPR (ESR) is small, but the resonance
frequency is large.

 


Differences in the structure of EPR and NMR instruments: the former is a
constant frequency and adopts the sweeping field method; the latter is a
constant magnetic field and adopts the sweeping frequency method.

 


The sensitivity of EPR is higher than that of NMR, and the absolute
concentration of free radicals required for EPR detection is on the order of M.
This is because the electronic magnetic moment is much larger than the nuclear
magnetic moment, and the sensitivity is proportional to the cube of the
magnetic moment.

 

 

Difference of Research Objects


EPR is the only spectroscopic technique that can directly detect and study
paramagnetic substances containing unpaired electrons. Its research objects
include free radicals, triplet molecules, metal atoms or clusters, transition
metals and rare earth ions in specific valence states, doping or defects, etc.

 


NMR is a
spectroscopy technique for the study of nuclei with spin quantum numbers equal
to zero. Nuclei with a nuclear spin quantum number of 1/2 (such as 1H, 19F,
13C, 31P, etc.) are especially suitable for nuclear magnetic resonance
spectrometer experiments, because it can be regarded as a sphere with uniform
distribution of charge and spins like a top, there is a magnetic moment
generated. The abundance of 1H, 19F, and 31P in nature is close to 100%, which
can be easily determined by NMR spectrometer. In particular, hydrogen nuclei
are not only easy to measure, but also the main elements of organic compounds,
which are very important in nuclear magnetic analysis.

 


The resonance frequency of electron paramagnetic EPR (ESR) is in the microwave
band, such as 0.34T(9.5GHz) and 1.25T(35GHz). The resonance frequency of NMR is
in the radio frequency band, such as 6.97T (300MHz), 18.6T (800MHz).

 

Mempro™ Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR)
Technology at Creative Biostructure

Creative
Biostructure has spent a long time developing an advanced MemproTM
Nanodisc analysis platform. We provide customized MemproTM electron
paramagnetic resonance (EPR) service for Nanodisc analysis thanks to our
experienced scientists who have been working on Nanodisc research for years.

 

NMR Technologies at Creative Biostructure

Solid-state
NMR, Solution-state NMR, Quantitative NMR, High-Pressure NMR, Stable-Isotope
Aided NMR, Real-time Protein NMR, Rheo-NMR, CPMG Relaxation Dispersion NMR,
Saturation Transfer Difference (STD) NMR, NMR Crystallography,
4D NMR,
etc.

 


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