Robert Guy Griffin

About

Robert Guy Griffin is the Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry at MIT. His research group is dedicated to the development of new magnetic resonance techniques to study molecular structure and dynamics. His work includes designing experiments to measure 13C-13C and 13C-15N dipolar couplings, performing spectral assignments, and measuring internuclear distances and torsion angles in solids using magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra. This information is used to determine the molecular structures of amyloid and membrane peptides and proteins. In addition, Griffin's research involves developing high field dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)/NMR experiments to obtain large nuclear spin polarizations and increased NMR signal intensities, enabling new applications. His team also performs CW and pulsed EPR experiments at 140 GHz to achieve higher resolution and easier interpretation of spectral lineshapes. They investigate dynamic processes in solids through analysis of 2H NMR powder patterns, deriving details about the rates and mechanisms of motion. The second major focus of his research is applying these magnetic resonance techniques to chemical, biophysical, and physical problems. His group employs MAS NMR to investigate the structure of large enzyme/inhibitor complexes, membrane proteins, and amyloid peptides and proteins. They have addressed structural questions by measuring chemical shifts and dipolar couplings between homonuclear and heteronuclear spin pairs. Notably,…

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Photochemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Atomic physics
• Chromatography
• Materials science
• Quantum mechanics
• Inorganic chemistry

Selected publications

• Room-Temperature Quantitative Quantum Sensing of Lithium Ions with a Radical-Embedded Metal–Organic Framework

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2022 · 80 citations

  Recent advancements in quantum sensing have sparked transformative detection technologies with high sensitivity, precision, and spatial resolution. Owing to their atomic-level tunability, molecular qubits and ensembles thereof are promising candidates for sensing chemical analytes. Here, we show quantum sensing of lithium ions in solution at room temperature with an ensemble of organic radicals integrated in a microporous metal-organic framework (MOF). The organic radicals exhibit electron spin…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Overhauser Dynamic Nuclear Polarization with Selectively Deuterated BDPA Radicals

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2021 · 57 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  H spins in the BDPA radical in determining the dominance of the zero and double-quantum cross-relaxation pathways and the polarization-transfer mechanism to the bulk matrix.

  DOI

• ¹ H detection and dynamic nuclear polarization–enhanced NMR of Aβ _1-42 fibrils

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2021 · 43 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  H detection and DNP may be the spectroscopic approaches of choice for future studies of Aβ and other amyloid systems.

  DOI

• Dipolar Recoupling in Rotating Solids

  Chemical Reviews · 2024-11-06 · 24 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has evolved significantly over the past three decades and established itself as a vital tool for the structural analysis of biological macromolecules and materials. This review delves into the development and application of dipolar recoupling techniques in MAS NMR, which are crucial for obtaining detailed structural and dynamic information. We discuss a variety of homonuclear and heteronuclear recoupling methods which are essential for…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Frequency-swept dynamic nuclear polarization

  Journal of Magnetic Resonance · 2023-06-20 · 22 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01GM023403

  NIH · $2.3M · 2004

• NIH Grant R01EB003151

  NIH · $6.5M · 2017

• Solid State NMR Studies of Amyloid Proteins

  NIH · $3.1M · 2017–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Judith Herzfeld

  Brandeis University

  204 shared

• Richard J. Temkin

  186 shared

• Vladimir K. Michaelis

  78 shared

• Johan Lugtenburg

  Leiden University

  75 shared

• Sudheer Jawla

  58 shared

• Christopher P. Jaroniec

  The Ohio State University

  53 shared

• Björn Corzilius

  Leibniz Institute for Catalysis

  48 shared

• Marina Bennati

  University of Göttingen

  48 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Chemistry

  Washington University in Saint Louis

  1969

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• Arup K Chakrabortyh-89