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Ralph Adams

Picture of Ralph Adams

Senior Lecturer
Email/Teams: ralph.adams@manchester.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 161 306 0389

Research
Pure shift and ultrahigh-resolution NMR spectroscopy
Selective and multidimensional NMR methods
Diffusion-ordered spectroscopy and complex mixture analysis
Reaction monitoring, flow and stirred NMR
Hyperpolarisation and advanced NMR methodology

Biography
I studied Chemistry at the University of York, completing a four-year MChem degree in 2005. My final year was spent in Analytical Methods Development in the R&D division of GlaxoSmithKline in Stevenage, where I worked on analytical methods for isomer separation in the synthetic route to Lapatinib. The project was supervised by Dr Darsha Hindocha at GSK and Prof. David Goodall at York.

I remained at York for my PhD, working with Prof. Simon Duckett in the Department of Chemistry and Prof. Gary Green at York Neuroimaging Centre. My doctoral research focused on the development and application of parahydrogen-based hyperpolarisation methods for magnetic resonance imaging and NMR spectroscopy. During this work I was involved in the development of Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange (SABRE), which allows large NMR signal enhancements to be generated catalytically without chemically modifying the analyte. I submitted my PhD thesis, Applications of Hyperpolarisation in Magnetic Resonance Imaging, in 2009.

Following my PhD, I continued at York as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Duckett, working on the development and exploitation of SABRE for high-field NMR and hyperpolarised MRI. In 2010 I moved to the University of Manchester to work with Dr Mathias Nilsson and Prof. Gareth Morris on the development of Matrix-Assisted Diffusion-Ordered Spectroscopy (MAD), a family of methods designed to improve the analysis of complex mixtures using diffusion NMR.

From 2014 my research increasingly focused on the development of new methods for high-resolution solution-state NMR spectroscopy, particularly pure shift NMR. I was a Researcher Co-Investigator on the EPSRC project Improving NMR Resolution and Sensitivity – Simultaneously? and subsequently contributed to the development of a wide range of pure shift, ultraselective, multidimensional, diffusion and mixture-analysis methods.

I was appointed Research Fellow and Head of NMR Spectroscopy at the University of Manchester in 2014, Senior Lecturer (Research) in 2021, and Senior Lecturer and Head of NMR Spectroscopy in 2024. Alongside responsibility for the Department of Chemistry's NMR facilities, I now lead an independent research programme as a Principal Investigator in NMR methodology. My research focuses on developing new experiments and instrumentation that increase the resolution, selectivity, information content and range of applications of NMR spectroscopy.

Current research includes pure shift and ultrahigh-resolution NMR, selective and J-spectroscopy methods, diffusion and complex-mixture analysis, and the development of NMR approaches for studying chemical reactions in real time. A major strand of this work concerns reaction monitoring under realistic conditions, including continuous-flow, high-pressure and heterogeneous systems, and the development of stirred NMR methods for monitoring reactions directly inside the spectrometer.

I lead externally funded projects supported by organisations including EPSRC, the Leverhulme Trust and Dstl, and supervise postdoctoral researchers and PhD students working across NMR methodology, instrumentation and applications. I also collaborate widely with researchers in synthetic chemistry, catalysis, materials science and chemical biology, with the aim of developing NMR methods that solve problems that are difficult or impossible to address using conventional spectroscopy.

Research Funding

I have secured more than £13 million in external research funding as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator from EPSRC, the Leverhulme Trust, DSTL, BBSRC and industrial partners.

Selected current and recent projects include:

  • Stirred NMR: NMR Method for in Situ Monitoring of Heterogeneous Reaction – Leverhulme Trust, PI, 2023–2026.
  • NMR Spectrometer with high pressure and reaction monitoring capability – EPSRC Strategic Equipment, PI, 2020–2024.
  • Improved Forensic Analysis by Pure Shift NMR Spectroscopy – Dstl, PI, 2024–2028.
  • Fulfilling the promise of J-spectroscopy – EPSRC Standard Grant, Co-I, 2026–2029.
  • Flow-tolerant NMR experiments – EPSRC Standard Grant, Co-I, 2024–2027.
  • Multiple independent NMR dimensions: smart experiments for complicated problems – EPSRC Standard Grant, Co-I, 2023–2026.
  • The UK Solid-State NMR and Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation Facility – EPSRC Strategic Equipment, Co-I, 2022–2027.
  • Clearing the undergrowth: new NMR techniques for high dynamic range mixtures – EPSRC Standard Grant, Co-I, 2018–2021.
  • Improving NMR Resolution and Sensitivity – Simultaneously? – EPSRC Standard Grant, Co-I, 2014–2017.

These awards support an independent research programme spanning the development of new NMR experiments, instrumentation and applications, with particular emphasis on high-resolution spectroscopy, selective methods, diffusion, reaction monitoring and the analysis of complex chemical systems.

Selected Publications

A selection of lead-author and PI-led publications is given below. For a complete and up-to-date publication list, see Scopus or Google Scholar.

  1. Spin-System-Selective 2D J-Spectroscopy, E. Davies, G.A. Morris, S.S. Roy, and R.W. Adams, Chem. Methods, 6 (2026), e70115.
  2. Ultra-selective 1D clean in-phase correlation spectroscopy, D.A. Taylor, P. Kiraly, P. Bowyer, M. Nilsson, L. Castañar, G.A. Morris, and R.W. Adams, Chem. Commun., 59 (2023), 6734.
  3. Contrasting Photochemical and Thermal Catalysis by Ruthenium Arsine Complexes Revealed by Parahydrogen Enhanced NMR Spectroscopy, R.W. Adams, R.O. John, D. Blazina, B. Eguillor, M.C.R. Cockett, J.P. Dunne, J. López-Serrano, and S. Duckett, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. (2022), e202100991.
  4. SABRE enhanced real time pure shift NMR spectroscopy, D.A. Taylor, L.S. Natrajan, M. Nilsson, and R.W. Adams, Magn. Reson. Chem., 59 (2021), 1244.
  5. Single-scan Ultra-selective 1D Total Correlation Spectroscopy, P. Kiraly, M. Nilsson, G.A. Morris, and R.W. Adams, Chem. Commun., 57 (2021), 2368.
  6. Single Scan Selective Excitation of Individual NMR Signals in Overlapping Multiplets, P. Kiraly, N. Kern, M.P. Plesniak, M. Nilsson, D.J. Procter, G.A. Morris, and R.W. Adams, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 60 (2021), 666.
  7. Kinetic Treatments for Catalyst Activation and Deactivation Processes based on Variable Time Normalization Analysis, A. Martínez Carrión, M.G. Howlett, C. Alamillo Ferrer, A.D. Clayton, R.A. Bourne, A. Codina, A. Vidal Ferran, J. Burés, and R.W. Adams, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 58 (2019), 10189.
  8. Diastereomeric Ratio Determination by High Sensitivity Band-Selective Pure Shift NMR Spectroscopy, R.W. Adams, L. Byrne, P. Király, M. Foroozandeh, L. Paudel, M. Nilsson, J. Clayden, and G.A. Morris, Chem. Commun., 50 (2014), 2512.
  9. Resolving natural product epimer spectra by matrix-assisted DOSY, R.W. Adams, J.A. Aguilar, J. Cassani, G.A. Morris, and M. Nilsson, Org. Biomol. Chem., 9 (2011), 7062.
  10. Reversible interactions with para-hydrogen enhance NMR sensitivity by polarization transfer, R.W. Adams, J.A. Aguilar, K.D. Atkinson, M.J. Cowley, P.I.P. Elliott, S.B. Duckett, G. Green, I.G. Khazal, J. López-Serrano, and D.C. Williamson, Science, 323 (2009), 1708.