Measuring reaction kinetics in a lab-on-a-chip by microcoil NMR

A microfluidic chip with an integrated planar microcoil was developed for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy on samples with volumes of less than a microliter. Real-time monitoring of imine formation from benzaldehyde and aniline in the microreactor chip by NMR was demonstrated. The reaction times in the chip can be set from 30 min down to ca. 2 s, the latter being the mixing time in the microfluidic chip. Design rules will be described to optimize the microreactor and detection coil in order to deal with the inherent sensitivity of NMR and to minimize magnetic field inhomogeneities and obtain sufficient spectral resolution.