SMASH 2024: Biking through sunsets in Burlington, Vermont

6th October 2024 | Author: Asad Saib

SMASH (Small Molecule NMR Conference) continues to be one of the standout events of the year for the Oxford Instruments Magnetic Resonance applications team. Bringing together great science, amazing talks, and a vibrant community of NMR experts, SMASH 2024 did not disappoint. Set in the beautiful location of Burlington, Vermont, this year’s conference provided the perfect blend of inspiring sessions and outdoor exploration.

SMASH 2024 took place in mid-September (15^th-18^th), and the team representing Oxford Instruments included Asad Saib (Applications Scientist, U.K.), Raj Hoshing (Applications Scientist, U.S.), and Mike Lipton (Sales Manager, U.S.). Over the course of four days, attendees were treated to a diverse range of scientific discussions, with many presentations being particularly relevant to benchtop NMR spectroscopy.

Highlights of the scientific content this year included sessions on benchtop NMR, industrial applications of NMR, machine learning, and innovative NMR techniques, many of which can be directly applied to benchtop NMR systems like the X-Pulse. There was a workshop on multinuclear NMR, where the utility and challenges of observing heteronuclei were discussed. During this talk the speaker pointed out how benchtop NMR can be superior to traditional high-field NMR for observing transition metal complexes where relaxation through chemical shift anisotropy is dominant. This showcases the benefit of a system like the X-Pulse which has excellent broadband capability in benchtop form allowing for better observation of such transition metal complexes.

The benchtop NMR session included speakers from companies such as Baxter and Merck who drew attention to the diversity and capability of opting for a benchtop system to help solve complex structure elucidation challenges in the industrial setting. On the academic side, Prof. Andre Simpson from the University of Toronto showcased his research findings using benchtop NMR. Prof. Simpson also underlined how benchtop NMR can be extremely useful for training students in his field of environmental science, who often come from a non-chemistry background and have limited access to high field NMR. Moreover, such students find benchtop NMR less intimidating and more approachable thus getting more use out of it.

The conference also allowed the applications scientists to showcase their hard work carried out over the last year. With Asad’s passion being in FlowNMR, he used this opportunity to discuss the Real-Time multinuclear monitoring of small molecule reactions using the X-Pulse benchtop NMR system for a range of applications. For more information on his work, please see his poster here.

As with every SMASH conference, the social activities were a welcome break from the learning. Burlington’s stunning lakeside setting encouraged many attendees to explore the outdoors.

The Oxford Instruments team enjoyed a memorable 20 mile cycling trip along the Lake Champlain bike path, gazing upon the sunset - a great way to combine Vermont’s natural beauty with networking among colleagues.

Congratulations to this year’s poster prize winners: Danielle Johnson (University of Arizona), Christopher Esselman (University of Georgia), and Jarod Wood (University of North Carolina) and a special mention to the student presentations at the MRC – Early Career Researchers Symposium which continue to push the boundaries of NMR research.

We’re already excited for SMASH 2025 and look forward to reuniting with friends old and new, and to seeing where the next chapter of small molecule NMR will take us.