Nuclear magnetic resonance on lipids and surfactants

New applications of NMR to surfactants and lipids have been found in solid state NMR. Magic angle sample spinning (MAS) NMR combined with multidimensional techniques can give information about structure and conformational exchange of molecules in lamellar phases. High-resolution 1H NMR spectra of a transmembrane peptide have been obtained by MAS NMR, providing a structural tool for studying peptides in bilayers. NMR diffusion methods have been utilized to measure lipid lateral diffusion in bilayers, for determinations of molecular weight distributions for polymers and for NMR microscopical observations of electro-osmosis. 2H NMR methods have been developed for rheological studies of lyotropic liquid crystals and for measurements of bending rigidity and curvature of bilayers.