skip to content
 

The NMR Service in B28 can supply sample tubes for use in modern spectrometers.  For all the departmental instruments, we have standardised on a 7 inch 5mm Wilmad 528PP type tube.  We only accept samples for analysis in these tubes to avoid any chance of damage to the spectrometers.  Any Wilmad tubes of lower specification than these must not be used under any circumstances in any departmental spectrometer.  Research workers in possession of tubes other than Wilmad should contact the NMR Service in B28.

Please take care of your NMR tubes - cracked and chipped examples can break in SampleXpress units and jam them, or the tops can fall off in the older BACS units and stop an entire run. The NMR team will now only return tubes to researchers via the 50:50 wash and share scheme that are in a safe condition. Tubes that are too short or damaged to be repaired by cutting them square at the top will be disposed of.

We are able to sell Wilmad 528PP 5mm tubes to Chemistry and external department researchers.  They are available in packs of 5 from the vending machine or you can purchase them individually if you submit a consumables form to us.  They are priced at £42.98 ex. VAT per pack in the vending machine or £8.60 ex. VAT each. If you need 8" 528-PP tubes for a specific purpose these can be purchased by submitting a consumables requisition form to nmr-consumables@ch.cam.ac.uk

We can also supply a higher specification tube - the Wilmad 535PP.  These are specifically for use in the departmental 700MHz instrument if you require superior lineshape.  You can purchase Wilmad 535PP 5mm tubes again available individually or in boxes of 5.  Enquire in B28 for the price of these.

For certain applications we can also supply 3mm tubes at £2.20 each, and 4mm tubes at £2.50 each. (Prices include VAT at 20%)

If you require Shigemi, amberised, quartz or other specialised tubes please contact the NMR staff on nmr@ch.cam.ac.uk or visit us in B28, where we will be happy to advise and order these for you.  We can also supply medium/heavy walled tubes (Wilmad 524/504PP) for use with J. Young taps. Our Chemistry glassblower, Keith Parmenter is able to fit the Young taps to the top of these NMR tubes for you. See the Glass Workshop webpage. (internal only)

To complement the tubes, we have a large number of tube caps in various bright colours to replace the green ones supplied as standard. Packs of 100 of these are on sale from the vending machine or emailing the NMR Facility on nmr-consumables@ch.cam.ac.uk.  Some other varieties of coloured caps suitable for 5mm NMR tubes are also available by enquiring at B28 - these are Pink, Fuchsia, Sky Blue and Orange. All the cap colours are suitable for marking with black permanent marker pen for identification purposes. Also available are septa caps for airtight tube sealing whilst allowing for syringe injection - ask the NMR team in B28.

For shimming and test purposes, the NMR Section keep a range of sealed samples such as 0.1% Ethylbenzene in CDCl3 - hopefully most researchers should not need these.

In certain circumstances, a sealed capillary tube of a different solvent may be required inside the main sample tube.  We have a selection of common solvents available on request.

A number of tubes seem to be neglected by researchers, and left beside instruments. At £8.60 ex. VAT each, this is rather wasteful - please take your tubes with you when you leave!  The NMR Service have a number of abandoned tubes to wash on a regular basis, collected from the NMR rooms and which have gone unclaimed for two or more weeks. These are supplied as found with previous samples in them, however we will check the tubes to make sure they are still fit to use. We also get a large number of tubes from our external sample analyses which are often in perfect condition. If you or your group are prepared to clean them as described below you can add to your complement of tubes in our 50:50 wash and share scheme.

To clean your tubes, we recommend washing with acetone then alcohol, then leaving to stand for 24 hours.  Oven drying can cause warping which could damage the probes. We regularly offer the 50:50 tube wash to research group members prepared to wash a batch of tubes for a 50% share of them free of charge. The other half are returned to the NMR Facility stocks so we can prepare external customer samples.