Good Laboratory Practices for NMR Lab BE001
Because the NMR facilities in our department are valuable
resources and are shared by many users, the Chemistry Department requires users
of its NMR instruments to adopt practices that help maintain the equipment and
to use the facility in a safe and effective manner. The information below is provided to help accomplish these goals.
Lab BE001 has three superconducting NMR magnets located in
it. These magnets project strong
“stray” fields into adjacent space about their circumference, and above and
below the cryostat vessels. These
fields can affect certain electronic devices, persons with metallic implants
and magnetic storage media.
More significantly, these fields will accelerate iron or
other ferrometallic items toward the magnets.
This is a potential hazard for the equipment and for persons in the path
of such an item. Examples might include
gas cylinders, tools, fire extinguishers, loose paperclips, razorblades,
staples etc.
We can mitigate the magnet hazard by prudent practices.
- Persons
with metallic implants, especially cardiac pacemakers, as well as
orthopedic pins, plates, arterial clips or any other metal in their bodies
must stay at least 10 feet from any of the magnets.
- Metal
objects that you may need to bring into the lab must be kept at least
10 ft from the 500 MHz magnet and 5 feet from the 300 and 400
magnets. This includes items on
your person, as well as spatulas, keyrings, etc.
- Limit
the contact you have with the NMR magnet. Do not lean on the magnet while waiting for a spectrum. Avoid crowding in with a group of
people close to the magnet. Avoid hitting the magnet with any object, or
with your body.
- Leave
your wallets, purses, credit cards, ID cards, wristwatches, keys etc. in a
secure area outside the NMR lab. This caution applies especially to floppy
disks, magnetic tapes, laptops and other data storage media. Magnetic fields from NMR magnets can
destroy data on these.
Clutter both of a general nature and especially chemical
clutter is not compatible with a safe NMR facility.
- Clean
up any mess you make. Broken
glass is of particular concern.
- Put
waste paper in the recycling bin.
Discard gloves in the trash bin.
- Clean
any spills promptly and with due regard for chemical hygiene.
- Do
not leave any unlabeled sample or solution in the NMR lab. At minimum, your name, the solvent and the
sample ID should be visible on a label.
This is for the benefit and safety of others in the lab as well as
good laboratory practice.
- Remove
your data output promptly from the lab printers.
- Retrieve
samples left for, e.g. overnight runs as soon as possible.
We cannot permit eating or drinking in the lab. This is both
for your personal safety and that of others, and will help protect the
equipment from spills, crumbs and grease.
This is in line with the University Chemical Hygiene Plan.
Safety glasses are required in all laboratories. These will be provided for NMR lab, or you
may wear your own.
NMR tubes frequently transfer dirt to the inner surfaces of
the probe. Minimize this by:
- Hand-washing
before coming to the NMR lab, especially with respect to chemical
residues. Use of disposable gloves
is encouraged and these are provided.
- Cleaning
the outside of the sample tube with a kimwipe before placing it in the
spinner collar. Minimize handling
of the spinner collar. Keep the bottom (beveled) surface clean.
- Holding
the sample after positioning in the collar (use depth gauge) gently but
firmly by the upper part of the tube.
It will speed the action of the robotic shimming adjustments
if solution volumes are normally prepared to a uniform height. To achieve this, I strongly suggest that 0.8
mL (800 mL)
of deuterated solvent be the norm.