Recent Progress in the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Applications in Analytical Chemistry

Development of new and effective methods for measuring chemical composition, molecular structures, interactions and dynamics is one of the major issues of analytical chemistry. Spectral analysis (spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance) is the most commonly used analytical tool to address these issues. Nuclear magnetic resonance is capable to determine structure for small molecules, macromolecules and complicated biological systems, and it is considered as the most powerful tool in analytical chemistry. This paper reviewed recent progress of nuclear magnetic resonance in biological macromolecules system, complex system and the hyphenated method applications in analytical chemistry. In the first part, we gave a brief introduction of nuclear magnetic resonance technology and its applications in analytical chemistry field. The detailed application descriptions of nuclear magnetic resonance technology have been summarized from part two to part four. In the second part, we summarized the applications of nuclear magnetic resonance technology in biological macromolecules system, including the main nuclear magnetic resonance technology development in three dimensional protein structural analysis field and its applications; the related methods and applications in the dynamic study of protein complex, the in-cell nuclear magnetic resonance labeling methods development history and its applications, and also the methods of nuclear magnetic resonance technologies in studying the interactions of protein and drugs. In the third part, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance technologies in complex systems has been summarized, including the applications in the metabolomics and the applications in the field of food quality and safety. In the fourth part, we briefly introduced the joint applications of magnetic resonance technologies and other separation methods such as chromatography and spectroscopic ways. The conclusions of nuclear magnetic resonance technology applications and the suggestions of future developing directions were stated in the last part.