More Than Reaction Monitoring: Bringing Automated NMR Directly Into Your Workflow

If you have ever wanted the ability to run and automate NMR directly in your own lab or follow a reaction as it unfolds, check out our application note which demonstrates use of the QM-125 to monitor a Fischer esterification reaction. Using QM Control together with a short Python script, the instrument automatically collected spectra every five minutes during a three-hour Fischer esterification of benzoic acid, all performed in methanol. The combination of automated sampling and the built-in flow path of the QM-125 allows the reaction to be viewed step by step through changes in peak integrals for the starting material, intermediate species, and final product. In this reaction, we spot the ortho-ester reaction intermediate as the reaction progresses towards the final product.

Tracking the progress of a Fischer esterification reaction of benzoic acid in methanol by benchtop NMR at 125 MHz over the course of three hours.

The same flow-ready design makes the QM-125 ready to handle a wide range of customized and hyphenated setups. Whether your workflow is straightforward or complex, it can be automated to collect data at any time-intervals defined by the user. In addition, the QM-125 does not require deuterated solvents and provides consistent field uniformity, which is desired when comparing data at various time points. The application note offers an use case of how automated NMR can be added to modern flow chemistry, process optimization, and other research environments that depend on steady, informative analytical feedback. Most importantly, it shows how chemists can bring NMR directly into their own workflow and let the instrument adapt to their chemistry.

Get Application Note

Click the link above to get this application note and learn more about how the QM-125 can be integrated into your lab.