  For a normal measurable operator $a$ affiliated with a von Neumann factor
$\mathcal{M}$ we show:
  If $\mathcal{M}$ is infinite, then there is $\lambda_0\in \mathbb{C}$ so that
for $\varepsilon>0$ there are $u_{\varepsilon}=u_{\varepsilon}^*$,
$v_{\varepsilon}\in \mathcal{U}(\mathcal{M})$ with
$$v_\varepsilon|[a,u_\varepsilon]|v_\varepsilon^*\geq(1-\varepsilon)(|a-\lambda_0\textbf{1}|+u_\varepsilon|a-\lambda_0\textbf{1}|u_\varepsilon).$$
If $\mathcal{M}$ is finite, then there is $\lambda_0\in\mathbb{C}$ and
$u,v\in\mathcal{U}(\mathcal{M})$ so that $$v|[a,u]|v^*\geq
\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}(|a-\lambda_0\textbf{1}|+u|a-\lambda_0\textbf{1}|u^*).$$
These bounds are optimal for infinite factors, II$_1$-factors and some
I$_n$-factors. Furthermore, for finite factors applying $\|\cdot\|_{1}$-norms
to the inequality provides estimates on the norm of the inner derivation
$\delta_{a}:\mathcal{M}\to L_1(\mathcal{M},\tau)$ associated to $a$. While by
[3,Theorem 1.1] it is known for finite factors and self-adjoint $a\in
L_1(\mathcal{M},\tau)$ that $\|\delta_{a}\|_{\mathcal{M}\to
L_1(\mathcal{M},\tau)} = 2\min_{z\in \mathbb{C}}\|a-z\|_{1}$, we present
concrete examples of finite factors $\mathcal{M}$ and normal operators $a\in
\mathcal{M}$ for which this fails.
