Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry honouring Rod Wasylishen

The Canadian Journal of Chemistry, the Canadian Society for Chemistry's principal medium for publication of research, is preparing a special issue to honour the career contributions of Professor Roderick E. Wasylishen, Canada Research Chair in Physical Chemistry at the University of Alberta. The issue is scheduled to be published in July 2011.

Rod continues to have enormous impact on the field of NMR spectroscopy in Canada and worldwide. He has won numerous awards including the Gerhard Herzberg Award from the Spectroscopy Society of Canada, the John C. Polanyi Lecture Award, and the Alumni of Honour Award from the University of Waterloo. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Killam Senior Fellow, a CIC Fellow, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance.

Rod's high-quality and prolific research output is evidenced by more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in top-notch scientific journals, as well as book chapters and reviews. Rod has consistently chosen to publish in the Journal and to promote the Journal among his colleagues. Beginning in 1969, Rod has published over 75 manuscripts in Can. J. Chem. Rod has also had a major impact on the training of the future generation of NMR spectroscopists in Canada.

The Canadian Journal of Chemistry is a monthly journal reporting current research findings in all branches of chemistry, including the traditional areas of analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical-theoretical chemistry and newer interdisciplinary areas such as materials science, spectroscopy, chemical physics, and biological, medicinal and environmental chemistry.

It is our pleasure to invite you to contribute an article, communication, or review article dedicated to Rod Wasylishen. All submitted manuscripts will be subject to normal peer review procedures. We anticipate and hope that this will be a very popular issue, and as such reach a large international audience. Instructions to Authors can be viewed at the journal web site:

http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/journals/forauthors_cjc.html

Please confirm by e-mail to Judy Murdoch if you intend to submit a manuscript (jmurdoch "at" uwo.ca) and submit your contribution via the online submission program at http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cjc/osprey as soon as you can but not later than November 1, 2010. Please suggest at least three suitable reviewers two of which must be from a North American research institution in your cover letter or in the space provided in Osprey.

Sincerely,

Yining Huang, University of Western Ontario
David Bryce, University of Ottawa
Gang Wu, Queen's University

Pacifichem 2010: Registration is open

The 2010 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies Pacifichem 2010 will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii, December 15-20, 2010 and will be hosted by the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC).

Registration and housing reservation for Pacifichem 2010 is now open. The deadline for early bird registration is November 1, 2010.

Canadian NMR will be well represented by four symposia focusing on biological systems, polymers and inorganic materials. The technical program of Pacifichem 2010 and the full list of speakers are now available online at http://www.pacifichem.org/.

To see the NMR symposia schedules go to http://pacifichem.abstractcentral.com/planner.jsp
no need to login, just hit "search" and enter "nmr" in "Session Title Search"

NMR Symposia at Pacifichem 2010

NMR Spectroscopy of Polymers - Innovative NMR Strategies for Complex Macromolecular Systems (Symposium #12) Peter Macdonald, University of Toronto

Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics - Recent Advances in NMR (Symposium #43) Mitsuhiko Ikura, Ontario Cancer Institute

Advances in Solid-State NMR of Biological Molecules (Symposium #58) Michèle Auger, Université Laval

Solid-State NMR Methods and Applications in Inorganic Materials (Symposium #228) Scott Kroeker, University of Manitoba

New NMR book

Data Preprocessing for Chemometric and Metabonomic Analysis

by David E. Axelson
Softcover: 420 pages
Publisher: MRi_Consulting, Kingston, Ontario; July 30, 2010
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1926825618
http://www.chemometrics-analysis.com/

D. Axelson: "The best preprocessing methods will be the ones that ultimately produce a robust model with the most accurate predictive ability. Unfortunately, there are no particularly straightforward rules to guide investigators to the best selection of preprocessing options; the subsequent trial and error optimization process may be quite time consuming and confusing. However, spending little or no time investigating preprocessing options is likely to result in less than optimal results.

The primary objective of this book is to present a relatively focused outline of the major options available for data analysis, with an emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques discussed (see Table of contents, PDF). "

Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry: computational issue

Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry is putting together a special issue on "the Quantum-Chemical Calculations and their applications". Many papers from this issue, including several invited papers from Canadian groups, are already available online (Early View).

D.H. Brouwer, I.L. Moudrakovski, R.J. Darton, R.E. Morris, "Comparing quantum chemical calculation methods for structural investigation of zeolite crystal structures by solid-state NMR spectroscopy", Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry (2010) online. (Invited Article, Special Issue) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mrc.2642

D.L. Bryce, "A computational investigation of J couplings involving 27Al, 17O, and 31P," Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry (2010) online. (Invited Article, Special Issue) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mrc.2630

MOOT XXIII NMR Symposium - Second Announcement

The 23rd Annual MOOT NMR Symposium will take place at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 16 and 17th, 2010.

The MOOT NMR Symposium provides an informal environment for students, post-docs and faculty to present lectures and posters, discuss existing collaborations, and to establish new ones. It has traditionally been a regional gathering of NMR spectroscopists from Ontario and Quebec but has been expanding to include NMR Spectroscopists from the Maritimes. As a result, MOOT XXIII will be hosted for the first time outside of its traditional region; on the East coast in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia! We welcome you to check out and bookmark our website for the most up-to-date information:

http://structbio.biochem.dal.ca/jrainey/NMRMOOT/index.html

Notices:

(1) Registration and submission of titles for oral/poster presentations are open as of June 30, 2010. The deadline for both is September 15, 2010. Visit the registration menu item on our website where registration information can be provided via Word document or fillable PDF.

(2) Be sure and register for the banquet, to be held Saturday evening at the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site on Citadel Hill - overlooking the downtown core of Halifax and the harbour.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/index.aspx

(3) A big thank you to all of our confirmed sponsors, including Bruker BioSpin Canada, Agilent Technologies (formally Varian), Sigma-Aldrich Canada, New Era Enterprises, National Ultra-High Field NMR Facility for Solids (Canada), and Suraj Manrao. If you wish to sponsor this meeting, please contact Joe Zwanziger at jzwanzig "at" dal.ca.

Reminders:

(1) Accommodations - a block of rooms has been reserved at Atlantica (http://www.atlanticahotelhalifax.com) at a rate of $129 per night, including parking, and is based on 1-4 person occupancy. See the website for additional details and reservation deadlines.

(2) Travel - a 10% discount has been arranged with WestJet for your flight to MOOT XXIII. Again, additional details are on the website.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback about this year's MOOT and/or website, please let us know by email at mootnmr "at" gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you in October!

Your MOOT XXIII Organizing Committee:
Mike Lumsden
Joe Zwanziger
Jan Rainey
Ulli Werner-Zwanziger

Don Hughes' Memorial Photos

Hello everyone.

Thanks to all of you who could attend the memorial service for Don last week. I know I enjoyed seeing all of you and sharing stories.

A few days ago we posted a slide show of photos that were taken during the service. In case you haven't had a chance to look through these, please take a couple of minutes to have a look (external link).

Take care,

Bob Berno

C&CB, McMaster

Opportunities for studying polymorphs and cement-based materials via Ca-43 solid-state NMR

June 11, 2010, University of Ottawa

Calcium is an important component in diverse materials and biochemicals. However, NMR spectroscopy of the only spin-active calcium isotope, Ca-43, is notoriously challenging due to its low natural abundance (0.14 %), low resonance frequency, and quadrupolar nature. Recently, researchers from the University of Ottawa, the NRC Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences (SIMS-NRC), and Dalhousie University have independently reported advances in studies of inorganic polymorphs and cement-based materials using Ca-43 solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

"In spite of the great complexity of the calcium silicate chemistry involved in the hydration of Portland cement, we have shown that Ca-43 solid-state NMR provides useful new insights into cement chemistry", says Igor Moudrakovski (SIMS-NRC) of his collaboration with the Institute for Research in Construction (SIMS-IRC). Josef Zwanziger (Dalhousie) and his academic and industrial partners have similarly applied Ca-43 NMR in their project on the development, optimization and commercialization of high performance cement based composite materials.

Zwanziger explains, "we are trying to understand the nature of the composite-cement interface, and the mechanisms of toughening and strengthening in concrete composites. Calcium NMR is one of the many tools which is shedding light on the nature of the interface." At the University of Ottawa, David Bryce and his research group have demonstrated the utility of calcium NMR in understanding polymorphism in solids. This work has implications for understanding biomaterials as well as inorganic materials.

Because Ca-43 NMR in solid state requires a very strong magnetic field for sensitivity reasons, all these experiments were carried out at the National Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility for Solids (www.nmr900.ca), a national user facility managed by the University of Ottawa and housed on NRC's Ottawa campus, which houses Canada's only 21.1 T (900 MHz) NMR spectrometer.

The latest calcium NMR research has been published in PCCP and J. Am. Chem. Soc., and a perspective on the state of the field is now available in Dalton Transactions (Bryce, 2010).

David L. Bryce "Calcium Binding Environments Probed by 43Ca NMR Spectroscopy," Dalton Transactions (2010) online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c0dt00416b

Igor Moudrakovski, Rouhollah Alizadeh, James J. Beaudoin, "Natural abundance high field 43Ca solid state NMR in cement science," Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 12 (2010) 6961-6969. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c000353k

David L. Bryce, Elijah B. Bultz, and Dominic Aebi, "Calcium-43 Chemical Shift Tensors as Probes of Calcium Binding Environments. Insight into the Structure of the Vaterite CaCO3 Polymorph by 43Ca Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy," Journal of the American Chemical Society 130 (2008) 9282–9292. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja8017253

NMR workshops at the 52nd Rocky Mountain Conference

The Solid-State NMR Symposium of the 52nd Rocky Mountain Conference on Analytical Chemistry will take place August 1-5, 2010 at the Snowmass Conference Center in Snowmass, Colorado.

http://www.rockychem.com/

Consider attending one of two traditional NMR vendor's events associated with this symposium (registration required). Both workshops will be held on August 1st in the Snowmass Conference Center.

Bruker Solid State NMR workshop and seminar
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
http://www.bruker-biospin.com/rmc2010_nmr.html

Varian 21st Solid-State NMR User's Meeting
2:00 pm - 7:00 pm
http://varianinc.com/cgi-bin/nav?/products/nmr/events/solids_2010/index

4th Annual VIVA NMR Symposium

Hi All,

I am pleased to announce that the 4th Annual VIVA NMR symposium will take place Monday, June 21st at Simon Fraser University (Burnaby Mountain Campus) in Burnaby B.C. Yes, that is only 2 weeks away! We apologize for the short notice but certain events have made it necessary to organize it early this year.

The aim of this one day symposium is to bring together NMR users, researchers and managers from western Canada and the north-west of the USA to share information on topics of general NMR interest and to foster the development of an NMR community. Talks or poster presentations by graduate students are especially encouraged. Talks must be registered before June 15th, all other registrations will end on June 20th.

On-line registration is now available at http://www.sfu.ca/~vivanmr

The symposium is designed to be affordable and thanks to generous sponsorship by Bruker Canada and Agilent Technologies (formerly Varian Inc) the registration fees are only $20 for students and $50 for non-students which includes the lunch banquet and afternoon poster social session.

The program will consist of 15-20 minute talks, a lunch banquet at Club Ilia, and a poster session/social gathering.

A meeting of NMR facility managers is scheduled to follow immediately after the conference at the Himalayan Peak Restaurant (at SFU) on Monday from 6 - 9 pm.

For further details see the conference website.

Due to the short time available we have not been able to reserve special accommodation this year but there are links on the website to accommodation at SFU.

Please feel free to forward this announcement to anyone who might be interested.

I hope to see you all here in 2 weeks!

Sincerely,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew Lewis
Director, Magnetic Resonance Facility
Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive, Burnaby BC V5A 1S6
Email: arl "at" sfu.ca, Tel: 604 306 7959
Fax: 778 782 3765, Office: TASC 2, Room 9908

Multidimensional NMR Methods for the Solution State

edited by Gareth A. Morris and James W. Emsley
Hardcover: 580 pages
Publisher: Wiley; June 2010
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0470770757
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470770759
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0470770759

Wiley: "Multidimensional NMR methods have transformed the way in which solution state NMR is used to elucidate the structures of chemical and biochemical systems. The first book covering new developments in nearly a decade, this much-needed resource explains recent experimental methods for the rapid measurement of multidimensional solution-state NMR spectra. With articles written by key developers of the techniques, the coverage deals with both the theoretical tools and the latest practical applications, giving an unmatched guide to students, researchers, technicians, and anyone else working with NMR techniques today"

Canadian contributions

A.D. Bain "COSY: Quantitative Analysis," Chapter 13, Multidimensional NMR Methods for the Solution State (EMR Books), Eds. G.A. Morris and J.W. Emsley, Wiley (2010) pp. 167-176. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470034590.emrstm0095

T.T. Nakashima and R.E.D. McClung "Heteronuclear Shift Correlation Spectroscopy," Chapter 22, Multidimensional NMR Methods for the Solution State (EMR Books), Eds. G.A. Morris and J.W. Emsley, Wiley (2010) pp. 289-304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470034590.emrstm0209

R. Muhandiram and L.E. Kay "3D HMQC-NOESY, NOESY-HMQC, and NOESY-HSQC," Chapter 25, Multidimensional NMR Methods for the Solution State (EMR Books), Eds. G.A. Morris and J.W. Emsley, Wiley (2010) pp. 335-350. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470034590.emrstm0563

The complete Table of Contents is available on Stan's NMR blog.