The Deuteration & Macromolecular Crystallisation (DEMAX) platform at ESS is offering prioritised access to laboratory services for scientists and researchers working on COVID-19-related research projects.

DEMAX, which is currently running it second pilot proposal round, is able to provide expertise, advice and limited materials to support research aimed at the critical need to gain a better understanding of COVID-19.

ESS will evaluate prioritised access to the laboratory services for COVID-19-related proposals on a continuous basis.

Find out more: DEMAX COVID-19 support

The second ESS pilot call for proposals for deuteration and macromolecular crystallisation support from the DEMAX team opens today. The last day for submissions is Friday 28th February 2020. More information about what is available and how to apply can be found here: https://europeanspallationsource.se/node/245316

Beta-hexadecyl maltoside-d₃₁, the surfactant produced at the ESS chemical deuteration lab; and the SANS data it contributed to (collected on the D11 instrument at the ILL).

The ESS DEMAX team held its first pilot call for scientific proposals earlier this year, in order to establish a system that runs smoothly in time for the first science to be performed on ESS instruments. The call offered a range of biologically and chemically deuterated materials as well as support for crystallisation. Nineteen proposals were received, requesting services across the three areas of expertise.

In June and July, the first deuterated molecules were delivered to proposers, and in July, one of these molecules was utilised in a SANS experiment on the D11 instrument at ILL. Johan Larsson, the principle investigator in the work, studies the self-assembly of sugar-based surfactants with applications in the formulations field, including shampoos and cosmetics. In order to tune the properties of the surfactants, he is investigating the use of combinations of sugar-based surfactants and other surfactant-like components. Using deuterated sugar-based surfactants allowed him to discriminate between the different components in the mixture.

Surfactants such as this one; lipids; monomers and other small molecules were requested from the ESS chemical deuteration during the first proposal call. Part of the significance of chemical deuteration is that it can be used to produce unnatural molecules, and we can introduce deuterium judiciously into the molecule. This unnatural surfactant molecule can be produced at ESS, with deuterium located at very specific locations – those which are required for the SANS experiment.

The ESS DEMAX platform recently published its first call for proposals for deuteration and crystallisation support. Nineteen proposals were received, covering chemical deuteration, biological deuteration and crystallisation. The review process is underway and results will be communicated by the end of May. Thanks to all those neutron experimenters who submitted proposals!

BrightnESS² is a three-year, EU-funded project within the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme which focuses on the long-term sustainability of ESS and neutron scattering in Europe, and to further strengthen the network of facilities for research using neutrons. A total of 15 institutes and universities from Europe and South Africa are participants within the project.

As part of BrightnESS² the Deuteration Facility at the SFTC (UK) and the ESS Chemical Deuteration Laboratory (SE) are collaborating on the synthesis of structured deuterated phospholipids. At the moment, a limited number of deuterated, mixed acyl phospholipids (Figure 1) are available, and those that are available and prohibitively expensive for many neutron users and experiments.

The STFC Deuteration Laboratory has a wealth of experience in the synthesis of homo-acyl phospholipids and an active user community which continuously requests new phospholipid analogues for neutron experiments. The ESS Chemical Deuteration Laboratory is researching the application of enzymatic catalysis to the synthesis of deuterated molecules. Together, the facilities are working together to establish a new, modular method for the synthesis of tail-deuterated, mixed-acyl phospholipids, using enzymes to allow the regiospecific substitution of tails at the 1- and 2-positions. The modularity of the approach should mean that a large number of molecules can be accessed. The first target molecules are 1-palmitoyl-d31-2-oleoyl-d33-sn-3-phosphocholine (POPC-d64, Figure 2a) and 1-palmitoyl-d31-2-(9-oxononanoyl)-sn-3-phosphocholine (PoxnoPC-d31, Figure 2b).