Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL) has enhanced its Investigative and Quality Control (QC) capabilities with the installation of a new 600 MHz Bruker AVANCE NEO Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer at its UK laboratories. The investment not only increases the scientific consultancy’s capacity to develop tailored analytical solutions, it also paves the way for further investigations into new NMR applications for the Life Science sectors.
The addition of the 600 MHz spectrometer is designed to strengthen and complement RSSL’s existing 400 MHz NMR instrument, which remains in operation. It offers increased signal resolution, higher sensitivity and greater flexibility in terms of the range of multi-nuclei 1D and 2D experiments available. Benefits include more insightful spectral data and a higher confidence in structural assignments. The higher magnet strength also meets the minimum requirement for structural studies of larger biomolecules, such as peptides.
“This investment puts RSSL in an even stronger position to help our clients who are facing increasingly complex challenges related to impurity identification and process management. It gives us the additional NMR capacity to develop novel analytical approaches to solve problems that are not answered by more routine experiments. But at the same time, we can continue to provide a reliable, regular service to meet the requirements of various pharmacopeial quality control tests.
“Crucially, we now have the opportunity to investigate the full potential of NMR analysis for the benefit of our clients. A solid-state NMR service offering, for example, has numerous potential applications in the Life Sciences industry, from identification of insoluble materials to in-depth polymorph studies. The field of non-targeted screening also offers significant potential; where the increased resolution afforded by the 600 MHz magnet is a particular advantage when used in tandem with our highly accurate mass spectrometry capabilities,” said Catherine Frankis, Technical Specialist - Investigative Laboratory at RSSL.
RSSL’s collaborative cross-departmental ethos means that it is well placed to maximise the advantages of this highly regarded analytical tool - either as a powerful stand-alone technique or in combination with others such as LC-MS, UV and FTIR. Projects which may benefit can be quickly identified and the resulting data interpreted in conjunction with other available data sets.
Key applications include identity/assay testing of raw materials, the certification of standard materials, as well as targeted and non-targeted impurity screening - potentially at low levels when coupled with preparatory LC techniques.
RSSL has over 25 years’ experience in the use of NMR as a valuable analytical technique in the life sciences sector and is now one of only a few contract laboratories in the UK to offer access to a 600 MHz instrument in a GxP compliant environment.