NMR Software

A 3D depiction of a biological molecule

Mestrelab Mnova

The University has an unlimited-user campus license for Mestrelab Research's Mnova, and is now the preferred choice for routine processing of NMR data.

It's accessible on Windows PC's via AppsAnywhere, or other platforms via MyLab. If you would prefer a standalone installation, then you can download the installer from Mestrelab, and the license files are available from \\luna.lancs.ac.uk\FST\CH\NMR\Software\Mnova, i.e. the same place your NMR data is stored in. Instructions for getting access to that location.

Mnova needs to be able to communicate to the license server every three months for the license to be valid, and to do that you need to be physically on-campus, or connected to your University VPN. Mnova only needs read access to your NMR data, so it is convenient to point the data browser at your folder(s) on LUNA so that your data is immediately accessible as soon as it is acquired.

We also have a single license for the NMRPredict plugin - ask Dr Geoffrey Akien if you've got an NMR problem that would benefit from this.

Bruker TopSpin

The solution-state spectrometers are configured with the latest version of TopSpin for acquiring data, but you can use it for processing too. This is also the preferred method for processing DOSY data.

The latest version of TopSpin 4 is on AppsAnywhere, but you will need to have registered an account with Bruker in advance so you can obtain a valid license. An older version 3.5pl7 is also available that doesn't need you to install a license yourself, but may not work perfectly on Windows 11, and will display annoying error messages when working with data acquired on the new 400.

The latest versions of TopSpin are also available to download from Bruker (registration required). They are free for academic use, but you will need to register for your own personal licence, and you will need admin rights for the installation. Be aware that updates to MacOS have a habit of breaking TopSpin - see the latest Release Letter for that version of TopSpin to see what you might need to do this time around.

Installation

If you intend on processing DOSY data in TopSpin, then you need to include Dynamics Center as part of the installation (select "customise"), or, install it after the fact using the separately available standalone installers.

How to handle your NMR data in TopSpin

Note that to manipulate your data in TopSpin, you MUST copy your NMR data from LUNA into somewhere where you have write permissions - usually on your own computer. For convenience, you can then add this folder to the file browser pane on the left (right click and select "Add New Data Dir...").

1D processed NMR data in Bruker TopSpin

Others

ACD/NMR Processor Academic Edition

ACD/NMR Processor Academic Edition is a freeware package for processing your NMR data and can be installed directly on any Windows machine using AppsAnywhere. You can also install it the conventional way on personal machines using the installer on the filestore at \\luna.lancs.ac.uk\FST\CH\NMR\Software\ACD_Freeware, but you will need admin rights.

Free software

An extensive list of free NMR processing scripts (Python, R, Julia etc.) is maintained by Bryan Hanson. If you want something with a graphical interface, then NMRFx Analyst may be worth checking out.

There are also web-based systems available so you can process your NMR data within a browser e.g. NMRium.

Magnetic Resonance Facilities

  • Solution State NMR

    The solution-state NMR facilities are located in A74 Faraday Building, accessible via A73 and are used for both research and teaching.

  • Solid State NMR

    The Department has a broad range of modern solid-state NMR instrumentation, including the joint second highest field wide-bore instrument in the UK and a wide range of probes.