Overview
The Kenya National Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Centre (KNMRC) is to provide services by analyzing samples using NMR spectrometers for researchers and postgraduate students from various universities and research institution. NMR is the single most important analytical tool for identification of unknown compounds.
The Department of Chemistry of the University of Nairobi hosted a 200 MHz instrument for over 12 years (1999-2012). This instrument provided services to postgraduate students and researchers in various universities and research institution in the country. The NMR instrument was decommissioned in 2012 due to old age and currently there is no functional NMR machine in the East African region including Kenya. This has negatively impacted on the research activities and training of postgraduate students. In realization of this, the department has already acquired a modern and high field 400 MHz NMR instrument.
The demand for NMR analysis in this country is quite high and we plan to extend the services to various universities and research institution. For this we also propose to acquire a 60 MHz NMR instrument for routine measurement and for training purposes
The mandates of a university including that of the University of Nairobi are teaching, research and consultancy. In fulfilling these mandates, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer is one of the most important instruments in the areas of agricultural, biological, chemical and medical sciences. NMR is the most versatile, powerful, fast, continually evolving and non-destructive analytical tool available for scientists to analyse a wide variety of samples. It allows the visualization of single atoms in solutions or solid state so that the structures of molecules can be fully determined. The method also enables the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative analysis of analytes. NMR can be used to analyse liquids, solids, volatiles, non-volatile, polar, non-polar compounds, small and macromolecules and compounds with or without chromophore. NMR facilities are critical in science, technology and innovations with very wide applications
Sponser
The project is sponsored by National Research Fund, Kenya.