National Deuteration Facility

Impact

The National Deuteration Facility is the only facility of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. It is partially funded by the National Research Infrastructure for Australia initiative. This unique facility offers molecular deuteration using both in vivo biodeuteration and chemical deuteration techniques.

Deuteration enables investigation of the relationship between molecular structure and function of molecules of both biological and synthetic origin for the benefit of the science community and the Australian community at large.

How it works

Deuteration involves the production of molecules where all or part of the molecular hydrogen is in the form of the stable (non-radioactive) isotope deuterium (²H or D).

Chemical Deuteration

Chemical deuteration involves deuterating whole molecules or building blocks for the synthesis of a desired molecule by exposing them to heavy water (deuterium oxide) at high temperatures and pressures in the presence of a catalyst. If required, compounds can then be synthesised from the deuterated building blocks using organic chemistry techniques.

Biodeuteration

Biodeuteration involves the growth of microorganisms in a heavy water (deuterium oxide) culture medium supplemented with either a deuterated or hydrogenated carbon substrate, depending on the level of deuteration required. The biomass is harvested and the deuterated molecule (e.g. protein) is purified and characterised.

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Applications

Biopolymers and biotechnology
Deuterated biopolymers offer not only multiple options in creating structural contrast in polymer blends and composites in structural studies, but also insight into the biosynthetic pathways themselves.
Drug delivery
Liquid crystalline systems based on lipids such as glycerol monooleate (GMO) are attracting interest for their potential as controlled release drug delivery agents. Deuterated lipids have a role to play as subjects for neutron scattering experiments, to provide information about the structures, interactions, and kinetics of these systems.
Energy and gas adsorption materials
Deuterated materials enable the study of site-specific gas adsorption in metal-organic frameworks using neutron diffraction techniques.
Food-lipid digestion
Selectively deuterated triglycerides have been used to monitor chain migration and to investigate the stereoselectivity of lipase-catalysed hydrolysis of bonds.
Mechanistic studies
Deuterium can be used as a marker to investigate reaction mechanisms. Mechanistic information can be derived by selectively deuterating sites of interest within a molecule and determining the final position of the deuterium atom post-reaction.
Molecular electronics
For a number of organic molecules, the replacement of hydrogen with its stable isotope, deuterium, has been shown to increase optoelectronic device stability at high voltages; light efficiency; and device lifetime.
Structural biology
For neutron experiments with instruments such as SANS and neutron reflectometry, deuterium labelling of proteins enables neutron-visible contrast, enhancing the effectiveness of scattering techniques in providing selective information about protein structure and interaction in multicomponent systems. For NMR experiments, partial or full deuterium labelling of non-exchangeable hydrogens in proteins can substantially enhance spectral resolution and sensitivity for large proteins (>~30kDa) and for solid-state samples.
Thin film nanotech devices
The use of selected combinations of protonated and deuterated components provides contrast between the layers of OLEDs using neutron scattering techniques.
Stability for drug metabolism
Deuteration can help stabilise drug molecules, reducing unfavourable metabolism in the body. This can be utilised for stabilising imaging agents and radiotracers.

Access NDF Capabilities

Proposal submissions to the National Deuteration Facility are accepted for access to NDF capabilities for provision of deuterated and multiple isotopically labelled molecules for neutron scattering and other applications.

There are three modes of access available to NDF capabilities – merit, user pays/collaboration and commercial.

Voucher scheme for accelerating biomedical research

To encourage access to a diverse range of NCRIS supported Australian translational medical research capabilities, Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA) has developed the Pipeline Accelerator, a competitive voucher-style scheme that can subsidise the cost of access to a full range of advanced capabilities. In the Pipeline Accelerator 2024-2025 Round 2, TIA is partnering with Phenomics Australia, Bioplatforms Australia and ANSTO’s National Deuteration Facility (NDF) to expand the list of translation expertise necessary for the discovery and translation of medical research.

NDF News and Highlights

Further information about scientific highlights, news, and case studies from the NDF

NDF Publications

Details of all NDF recent publications

Get in contact

Click here for a list of NDF team members

Dr Tamim Darwish, Leader NDF

Acknowledgments

The National Deuteration Facility is partly supported by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy – an initiative of the Australian Government.

Enabled by

National Deuteration Facility

Impact

How it works

Capabilities

Chemical Deuteration

Biodeuteration

NDF product catalogue

Applications

Biopolymers and biotechnology

Drug delivery

Energy and gas adsorption materials

Food-lipid digestion

Mechanistic studies

Molecular electronics

Structural biology

Thin film nanotech devices

Stability for drug metabolism