Preface

It is a great pleasure to introduce Volume 24 of our SPR series in Electron Paramagnetic Resonance. As in previous volumes, we have tried to embrace the enormous and diverse areas of science where EPR has made such an important impact, by carefully selecting a number of Chapters that will appeal to all practitioners of the technique. From innovative and translational technologies to the core science disciplines, EPR continues to provide an unrivalled description of systems containing unpaired electrons, and the following Chapters will serve to illustrate and exemplify these elegant contributions.

In the first Chapter, Yulikov presents two techniques that can be used to determine distances between non-identical spin labels in biomolecules, namely DEER and a stochastic dipolar interaction between Ln(III) and organic radicals. This potentially new strategy for studies of biomacromolecules and their complexes is summarised with numerous examples. As in previous volumes, we have also tried to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in computational methodologies applied to EPR phenomena, and in Chapter 2 Oganesyan reviews the theoretical methods for simulating CW EPR spectra arising from molecular motions of the nitroxide spin labels and probes. In Chapter 3, the advanced EPR methodologies used to study dopants in crystalline silicon, within the context of promising platforms for quantum computing and quantum sensing, are neatly reviewed by Morley. Following on from this physics perspective of an EPR applications area, in Chapter 4 we turn to a more chemistry based application, whereby Grampp et al., discuss the use of EPR to study ionic liquids as solvents with a particular emphasis on the electron self-exchange reactions and mechanistic aspects of these liquids. The remaining Chapters retain a strong applications bias, from nucleic acids to catalysis. Dzuba and March consider the wide variety of applications offered by ESEEM in Chapter 5, from studies of protein and small peptides locations in membranes to protein folding and secondary structures, while Qin et al., provide a comprehensive overview in Chapter 6 on how the structure and dynamics of nucleic acids can be understood from the perspective of site-directed spin labeling. The volume is then rounded off by Carter and Murphy in Chapter 7, with a detailed review on the benefits offered by EPR for providing new insights into the reaction mechanisms of homogeneous catalytic systems.

Finally we would like to express our thanks to all of the contributing authors for delivering their Chapters on time, and we hope that the exciting and timely material covered in this Volume will be both infectious and stimulating to the wider specialist and non-specialist community. Our appreciation is also extended to the Royal Society of Chemistry for their professional assistance and guidance in preparing this Volume.

Victor Chechik

Bruce C. Gilbert

Damien M. Murphy