PhD Studentship: Optimising the delivery of light into Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Samples

This 4 year studentship will be funded by an EPSRC CASE conversion in partnership with Bruker UK Ltd. Tuition fes will be covered and you will receive a tax free stipend of set at the UKRI rate (£19,237 for 2024/25).

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) is a magnetic resonance method that can be used to study any systems containing unpaired electrons. In recent years the application of this methodology to systems where the unpaired electrons are generated by exposure to light has increased significantly. Many chemical and biochemical reactions are initiated by light and EPR active radical intermediates can be monitored to record the progress and mechanism of the reaction. Furthermore, optically excited molecular states, such as triplets, can be detected. Spectra of these systems can be used to better understand excited state electronic structure and in addition they can be used as spin-labels in biological structural determination (Methods in Enzymology, 2022, 666, 171-231) and may have important roles to play in future quantum algorithms.

However, delivery of light into an EPR spectrometer to interact with a sample is challenging. The openings though which light can be shone are often small by necessity making the process inefficient and requiring high powered light sources to obtain suitable sample excitation. As an alternative we have been harnessing work initially developed for light-coupled NMR spectroscopy (Communications Chemistry, 2022, 5, 90), where the walls of the sample tube are used as a light guide and treatment of the external wall of the tube at the position of the sample generates a scattering zone, where light is scattered to illuminate the sample. Continuous wave (cw) EPR experiments have shown significant improvements over current common illumination methodology (Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 1012-1015).

This project aims to apply similar novel illumination methodology to more complex and time-resolved EPR experiments, including pulsed EPR methods and the newly developed rapid scan EPR methodology. Work on this project will take place within the UK’s National Research Facility for EPR Spectroscopy in collaboration with the industrial CASE partner Bruker, who manufacture and develop EPR spectrometers.

The student will have the opportunity to undertake placement work with Bruker during the PhD. This project is ideally suited to a student who is interested in interacting closely with industry and also in the development of novel experimental methodologies. Examples of areas that might benefit from the application of this methodological development include light-induced process such as photodynamic therapy, dental reconstruction, monitoring of reactive oxygen species in biological environments and synthesis of drugs and fine chemicals, including green chemical methods.

We strongly recommend that you contact the supervisor(s) for this project before you apply. Contact information and websites are provided below:

Dr Alice Bowen: [email protected]

https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/alice.bowen

https://www.chemistry.manchester.ac.uk/epr/

Dr Alexander Golovanov: [email protected]

https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/a.golovanov

Prof. David Collision: [email protected]

https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/david.collison