Richard R. Ernst

Richard R. Ernst won the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the development of high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. His innovations in Fourier transform NMR and two-dimensional NMR techniques transformed NMR into an indispensable tool for chemists, biochemists, and medical imaging.

Fourier transform NMR replaces the slow, sequential scanning of frequencies with a short, powerful radiofrequency pulse that excites all nuclei simultaneously, after which the signal is mathematically converted into a spectrum using a Fourier transform. Developed by Ernst in the 1960s at Varian Associates, this approach dramatically increased sensitivity and speed, allowing researchers to analyze dilute samples that were previously impossible to study.

Two-dimensional NMR spreads spectral information across two frequency axes rather than one, revealing correlations between nuclei—such as which protons are coupled to each other—that are often buried or overlapping in one-dimensional spectra. Ernst and his collaborators introduced these methods in the 1970s, and they became foundational for determining the three-dimensional structures of proteins and other complex molecules in solution.

Ernst carried out his foundational Fourier transform NMR work at Varian Associates in Palo Alto, California, before returning to Switzerland to join the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). At ETH Zurich he led the research group that developed two-dimensional NMR techniques, the work that ultimately earned him the Nobel Prize.