Motion of the guest molecules in kaolinite/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) intercalation compounds Al2Si2O5(OH)4∙(CH3)2SO has been studied by means of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the temperature range between 300 and 380 K, which is just below the evolution temperature. The 13C magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra show 2 inequivalent methyl carbons: 1 methyl carbon is keyed in the ditrigonal hole of the silicate sheet, while the other is located parallel to the sheet. Above 320 K, the 2 peaks have different intensities, suggesting that the keyed methyl groups from some of the DMSO molecules are released from the hole. The 2H NMR spectra have been measured for kaolinite/DMSO-d6 intercalate. The methyl group of the interlayer DMSO molecule undergoes free rotation around its C3 axis over the temperature range studied. The axis of rotation is fixed at the low temperature (about 160 K), and the methyl group initiates a wobbling motion whose amplitude increases with temperature. The wobbling angles have an anisotropy, estimated from theoretical analysis of the 2H spectral line shapes. The DMSO molecules released from the silicate layer undergo anisotropic rotation of the whole molecule.

Water soluble compounds were extracted from the dominant cryptogams of the Windmill Islands, Wilkes Land, and compared with standard polyols, sugars and amino acids using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Previous findings for sugars and polyols from gas liquid chromatorgraphy were validated and extended. Arabitol, ribitol and mannitol were confirmed as the major soluble carbohydrate compounds in all lichen species examined. Sucrose, fructose and glucose, but no polyols were detected in two species of moss. Sorbitol was confirmed as a major component of the algae Prasiola crispa and Schizogonium murale. Mesotaenium bergrenii was confirmed to contain sucrose and glucose. No significant quantities of sugars or polyols or any other compound were found in extracts of the red snow alga Chloromonas sp.1. Amino acids were detected in the majority of cryptogam samples and were particularly abundant in the algae P. crispa and S. murale. In the latter species the total identified acids ranged from 13.5–66mg g-1 dry weight. In addition to the common amino acid components of proteins, betaine and γ-amino-butyric acid were detected, the latter being particularly abundant, being found widely in the moss, lichen and algae. Several unknown carbohydrates were characterized. Usnea sphacelata, U. antarctica and Pseudephebe minuscula contained a deoxy-hexitol, Grimmia antarctici contained resonance peaks consistent with a trisaccharide containing a sucrose moiety and Umbilicaria decussata possibly contained a glucose-arabitol dimer. 13C NMR was confirmed as a powerful tool for the characterization of low molecular weight constituents of Antarctic cryptogams.

A sequence variant of human MIP-1α, in which Asp26 has been replaced by Ala, has been chemically modified by the addition of 13C-labeled methyl groups at each of the lysine residues and the N-terminus. The sites of methylation have been verified by a combination of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric experiments and tryptic digestion followed by N-terminal mapping. The effect of the modification on the structure and activity of the protein have been determined by analytical ultra-centrifugation, 13C NMR spectroscopy and receptor binding studies. The results of these experiments suggest that huMIP-1α D26A (BB10010), when present as a dimer, adopts a globular structure, like MCP-3, rather than the elongated or cylindrical structure determined for dimers of huMIP-1β and RANTES.