title: NMR measure of translational diffusion and fractal dimension. Application to molecular mass measurement.
abstract: Experimental NMR diffusion measure on polymers and on globular proteins are presented. These results, complemented with results found in the literature, enable a general description of effective fractal dimension for objects such as small organic molecules, sugars, polymers, DNA, and proteins. Results are compared to computational simulations as well as to theoretical values. A global picture of the diffusion phenomenon emerges from this description. A power law relating molecular mass with diffusion coefficients is described and found to be valid over 4 orders of magnitude. From this law, the fractal dimension of the molecular family can be measured, with experimental values ranging from 1.41 to 2.56 in full agreement with theoretical approaches. Finally, a method for evaluating the molecular mass of unknown solutes is described and implemented as a Web page.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS UMR 5048 - UM 1 - INSERM UMR 554, 29, rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Augé
authors.forename: Pierre-Olivier
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Schmit
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Crutchfield
authors.forename: Mohammad T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Douglas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clemancey
authors.forename: Anne-Agathe
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Quoineaud
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lancelin
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Prigent
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Taulelle
authors.forename: Marc-André
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Delsuc
mesh_terms: D004058:Diffusion; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D011506:Proteins