Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons adds specialized NMR equipment to its laboratory

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inaugurated the new nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer at OPCW’s laboratory last week in Rijswijk, South Holland Province.

The ceremony was led by OPCW Director General Ahmet Üzümcü.

NMR is widely used in chemistry and life sciences and can identify small molecules to determine a protein’s three-dimensional structures.

Üzümcü detailed that the OPCW’s investment in the spectrometer, a Bruker 400 MHz Avance II HD-Nanobay with Prodigy Cryoprobe, represented an enhancement in the organization’s capabilities and came with support from OPCW member states.

The spectrometer will allow the organization to analyze various structures and identify unknown chemicals in samples. It also allows for the rapid determination of the purities of reference chemicals and products. It will assist in research projects into NMR-based chemical forensic techniques and attribution examination.

The OPCW serves as the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention, a 1997 agreement entered into force that has become the most-successful disarmament treaty for eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

Since its implementation, approximately 95 percent of all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by possessor states have been eliminated under OPCW verification.