Starting from a comprehensive quantum mechanical description, this book introduces the optical (IR, Raman, UV/Vis, CD, fluorescence and laser spectroscopy) and magnetic resonance (1D and 2D-NMR, ESR) techniques. The book offers a timely review of the increasing interest in using spin-label ESR as an alternative structural technique for NMR or X-ray diffraction. Future aspects are treated as well, but only as an illustration of the progress of ESR in this field.

Starting from a comprehensive quantum mechanical description, this book introduces the optical (IR, Raman, UV/Vis, CD, fluorescence and laser spectroscopy) and magnetic resonance (1D and 2D-NMR, ESR) techniques. The book offers a timely review of the increasing interest in using spin-label ESR as an alternative structural technique for NMR or X-ray diffraction. Future aspects are treated as well, but only as an illustration of the progress of ESR in this field.

Advanced EPR: Applications in Biology and Biochemistry provides an up-to-date survey of existing EPR techniques and their applications in biology and biochemistry, and also provides a wealth of ideas for future developments in instrumentation and theory. The material is broadly organized into four parts. In the first part (chapters 1 to 6) pulsed EPR is discussed in detail. The second part (chapters 7 to 12) provides detailed discussions of a number of novel and experimental methods. The third part comprises seven chapters on double-resonance techniques, five on ENDOR and two on optically- and reaction yield-detected resonance. The final part is devoted to a thorough discussion of a number of new developments in the application of EPR to various biological and biochemical problems. Advanced EPR will interest biophysicists, physical biochemists, EPR spectroscopists and others who will value the extensive treatment of pulsed EPR techniques, the discussion of new developments in EPR instrumentation, and the integration of theory and experimental details as applied to problems in biology and biochemistry.

E.S.R. techniques which are mature from a fundamental point of view. now constitute a routine investigation tool in chemistry as well as in biophysics in order to study and to follow the behaviour of radical species. Among the practical applications. let us mention for instance : -diffusion phenomena (solid -solid. liquid -solid such as the diffusion of molecules through membranes. films fibers ... ). -study of radical species to improve the elaboration of materials with high added value (composites). -detection of ionised food. -liquid crystals. polymers. -radiochemistry. -targetting of drugs. toxicology. A better understanding of basic phenomena allows to optimize industrial products and processes applied as well as in advanced fields as in well established ones. The high sensivity of ESR Spectroscopy and its derived specific techniques (spin labelling. spin probe. spin trapping ... ) offer information on the fme morphological structure of the matter as well as on its behaviour under various treatments otherwise not available. A Symposium was organized in Lyon (France) in January 1990 to promote the use of ESR. Its originality was to deal with the practical applications of ESR to organic and bioorganic materials. The scope of this meeting was to enlarge the field of application from basic research to more applied subjects and this may concern industrial as well as academic researchers. Moreover. the purpose of this symposium was to promote exchanges between European specialists working in public or private areas.

In his thesis, Matthias Junk takes an innovative approach to assess the local structure and dynamics of biological and synthetic amphiphilic macromolecules capable of transporting small molecules. Replacing the latter with stable radicals, he uses state-of-the-art electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to describe the highly relevant transport function from the viewpoint of the guest molecules. Such, he demonstrates that the functional structure of human serum albumin in solution significantly differs from its crystal structure – a consequence of the protein’s adaptability to host various endogenous compounds and drug molecules. Further, he shows that the thermal collapse of thermoresponsive hydrogels and dendronized polymers leads to static and dynamic heterogeneities on the nanoscale. These heterogeneities bear consequences for the material’s hosting properties and enable unforeseen complex catalytic functionalities.

This book presents the historical background as well as the up-to-date developments in, and guidelines for, bioradicals and ESR research. Bioradicals Detected by ESR Spectroscopy is a newly coined term which encompasses paramagnetic species in biological systems, such as active oxygen radicals and transition metal ions. Research on the structures and functions of bioradicals have been attracting growing attention in the biological sciences, resulting in an increasing demand for comprehensive studies which allow researchers from many fields to understand the true importance of these species. ESR spectroscopy is of great interest to interdisciplinary research and is applied in many fields, ranging from physics and chemistry to biology and medicine. New ESR technologies of multiquantum ESR, STM-ESR and open-space ESR, several ESR imaging techniques, spin trapping and new methods in in vivo spin trapping are all described and discussed in this volume. In addition, it demonstrates the applications of ESR in food and medical sciences, i.e., the estimation and characterization of the antioxidant ability of foods and food components and the elucidation of the underlying chemical mechanisms.