Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Short description: Laboratory technique

A 900 MHz NMR instrument with a 21.1 T magnet at HWB-NMR, Birmingham, UK

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique based on re-orientation of atomic nuclei with non-zero nuclear spins in an external magnetic field. This re-orientation occurs with absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency region from roughly 4 to 900 MHz, which depends on the isotopic nature of the nucleus and increases proportionally to the strength of the external magnetic field.[1] Notably, the resonance frequency of each NMR-active nucleus depends on its chemical environment. As a result, NMR spectra provide information about individual functional groups present in the sample, as well as about connections between nearby nuclei in the same molecule. As the NMR spectra are unique or highly characteristic to individual compounds and functional groups, NMR spectroscopy is one of the most important methods to identify molecular structures, particularly of organic compounds.

The principle of NMR usually involves three sequential steps:

1. The alignment (polarization) of the magnetic nuclear spins in an applied, constant magnetic field B0.
2. The perturbation of this alignment of the nuclear spins by a weak oscillating magnetic field, usually referred to as a radio-frequency (RF) pulse.
3. Detection and analysis of the electromagnetic waves emitted by the nuclei of the sample as a result of this perturbation.

Similarly, biochemists use NMR to identify proteins and other complex molecules. Besides identification, NMR spectroscopy provides detailed information about the structure, dynamics, reaction state, and chemical environment of molecules. The most common types of NMR are proton and carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy, but it is applicable to any kind of sample that contains nuclei possessing spin.

NMR spectra are unique, well-resolved, analytically tractable and often highly predictable for small molecules. Different functional groups are obviously distinguishable, and identical functional groups with differing neighboring substituents still give distinguishable signals. NMR has largely replaced traditional wet chemistry tests such as color reagents or typical chromatography for identification.

The most significant drawback of NMR spectroscopy is its poor sensitivity (compared to other analytical methods, such as mass spectrometry). Typically 2–50 mg of a substance is required to record a decent-quality NMR spectrum. The NMR method is non-destructive, thus the substance may be recovered. To obtain high-resolution NMR spectra, solid substances are usually dissolved to make liquid solutions, although solid-state NMR spectroscopy is also possible.

The timescale of NMR is relatively long, and thus it is not suitable for observing fast phenomena, producing only an averaged spectrum. Although large amounts of impurities do show on an NMR spectrum, better methods exist for detecting impurities, as NMR is inherently not very sensitive - though at higher frequencies, sensitivity is higher.

Correlation spectroscopy is a development of ordinary NMR. In two-dimensional NMR, the emission is centered around a single frequency, and correlated resonances are observed. This allows identifying the neighboring substituents of the observed functional group, allowing unambiguous identification of the resonances. There are also more complex 3D and 4D methods and a variety of methods designed to suppress or amplify particular types of resonances. In nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) spectroscopy, the relaxation of the resonances is observed. As NOE depends on the proximity of the nuclei, quantifying the NOE for each nucleus allows construction of a three-dimensional model of the molecule.

Cutaway of an NMR magnet that shows its structure: radiation shield, vacuum chamber, liquid-nitrogen vessel, liquid-helium vessel, and cryogenic shims.[2]

NMR spectrometers are relatively expensive; universities usually have them, but they are less common in private companies. Between 2000 and 2015, an NMR spectrometer cost around 0.5–5 million USD.[3][4] Modern NMR spectrometers have a very strong, large and expensive liquid-helium-cooled superconducting magnet, because resolution directly depends on magnetic field strength. Higher magnetic field also improves the sensitivity of the NMR spectroscopy, which depends on the population difference between the two nuclear levels, which increases exponentially with the magnetic field strength.

Less expensive machines using permanent magnets and lower resolution are also available, which still give sufficient performance for certain applications such as reaction monitoring and quick checking of samples. There are even benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers. NMR spectra of protons (1H nuclei) can be observed even in Earth magnetic field. Low-resolution NMR produces broader peaks, which can easily overlap one another, causing issues in resolving complex structures. The use of higher-strength magnetic fields result in a better sensitivity and higher resolution of the peaks, and it is preferred for research purposes.[5]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 NMR-active criteria
* 3 Main aspects of NMR techniques
* 3.1 Resonant frequency
* 3.2 Sample handling
* 3.3 Deuterated solvents
* 3.4 Shim and lock
* 3.5 Acquisition of spectra
* 4 Spectral interpretation
* 4.1 Chemical shift
* 4.2 J-coupling
* 4.2.1 Second-order (or strong) coupling
* 4.2.2 Magnetic inequivalence
* 5 Correlation spectroscopy
* 6 Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance
* 7 Biomolecular NMR spectroscopy
* 7.1 Proteins
* 7.2 Nucleic acids
* 7.3 Carbohydrates
* 7.4 Drug discovery
* 8 High-pressure NMR spectroscopy
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 Further reading
* 12 External links

## History

Credit for the discovery of NMR goes to Isidor Isaac Rabi, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944.[6] The Purcell group at Harvard University and the Bloch group at Stanford University independently developed NMR spectroscopy in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Edward Mills Purcell and Felix Bloch shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics for their inventions.[7]

## NMR-active criteria

The key determinant of NMR activity in atomic nuclei is the nuclear spin quantum number (I). This intrinsic quantum property, similar to an atom's "spin", characterizes the angular momentum of the nucleus. To be NMR-active, a nucleus must have a non-zero nuclear spin (I ≠ 0).[8] It is this non-zero spin that enables nuclei to interact with external magnetic fields and show signals in NMR. Atoms with an odd sum of protons and neutrons exhibit half-integer values for the nuclear spin quantum number (I = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, and so on). These atoms are NMR-active because they possess non-zero nuclear spin. Atoms with an even sum but both an odd number of protons and an odd number of neutrons exhibit integer nuclear spins (I = 1, 2, 3, and so on). Conversely, atoms with an even number of both protons and neutrons have a nuclear spin quantum number of zero (I = 0), and therefore are not NMR-active.[9] NMR-active nuclei, particularly those with a spin quantum number of 1/2, are of great significance in NMR spectroscopy. Examples include 1H, 13C, 15N, and 31P.[10] Some atoms with very high spin (as 9/2 for 99Tc atom) are also extensively studied with NMR spectroscopy.[11]

## Main aspects of NMR techniques

### Resonant frequency

When placed in a magnetic field, NMR active nuclei (such as 1H or 13C) absorb electromagnetic radiation at a frequency characteristic of the isotope.[12] The resonant frequency, energy of the radiation absorbed, and the intensity of the signal are proportional to the strength of the magnetic field. For example, in a 21-tesla magnetic field, hydrogen nuclei (protons) resonate at 900 MHz. It is common to refer to a 21 T magnet as a 900 MHz magnet, since hydrogen is the most common nucleus detected. However, different nuclei will resonate at different frequencies at this field strength in proportion to their nuclear magnetic moments.

### Sample handling

The NMR sample is prepared in a thin-walled glass tube - an NMR tube.

An NMR spectrometer typically consists of a spinning sample-holder inside a very strong magnet, a radio-frequency emitter, and a receiver with a probe (an antenna assembly) that goes inside the magnet to surround the sample, optionally gradient coils for diffusion measurements, and electronics to control the system. Spinning the sample is usually necessary to average out diffusional motion, however, some experiments call for a stationary sample when solution movement is an important variable. For instance, measurements of diffusion constants (diffusion ordered spectroscopy or DOSY)[13][14] are done using a stationary sample with spinning off, and flow cells can be used for online analysis of process flows.

### Deuterated solvents

The vast majority of molecules in a solution are solvent molecules, and most regular solvents are hydrocarbons and so contain NMR-active hydrogen-1 nuclei. In order to avoid having the signals from solvent hydrogen atoms overwhelm the experiment and interfere in analysis of the dissolved analyte, deuterated solvents are used where >99% of the protons are replaced with deuterium (hydrogen-2).[15] The most widely used deuterated solvent is deuterochloroform (CDCl3), although other solvents may be used for various reasons, such as solubility of a sample, desire to control hydrogen bonding, or melting or boiling points. The chemical shifts of a molecule change slightly between solvents, and therefore the solvent used is almost always reported with chemical shifts. Proton NMR spectra are often calibrated against the known solvent residual proton peak[16] as an internal standard instead of adding tetramethylsilane (TMS), which is conventionally defined as having a chemical shift of zero.[17]

### Shim and lock

To detect the very small frequency shifts due to nuclear magnetic resonance, the applied magnetic field must be extremely uniform throughout the sample volume. High-resolution NMR spectrometers use shims to adjust the homogeneity of the magnetic field to parts per billion (ppb) in a volume of a few cubic centimeters. In order to detect and compensate for inhomogeneity and drift in the magnetic field, the spectrometer maintains a "lock" on the solvent deuterium frequency with a separate lock unit, which is essentially an additional transmitter and RF processor tuned to the lock nucleus (deuterium) rather than the nuclei of the sample of interest.[18] In modern NMR spectrometers shimming is adjusted automatically, though in some cases the operator has to optimize the shim parameters manually to obtain the best possible resolution.[18][19]

### Acquisition of spectra

Upon excitation of the sample with a radio frequency (60–1000 MHz) pulse, a nuclear magnetic resonance response - a free induction decay (FID) - is obtained. It is a very weak signal and requires sensitive radio receivers to pick up. A Fourier transform is carried out to extract the frequency-domain spectrum from the raw time-domain FID. A spectrum from a single FID has a low signal-to-noise ratio, but it improves readily with averaging of repeated acquisitions. Good 1H NMR spectra can be acquired with 16 repeats, which takes only minutes. However, for elements heavier than hydrogen, the relaxation time is rather long, e.g. around 8 seconds for 13C. Thus, acquisition of quantitative heavy-element spectra can be time-consuming, taking tens of minutes to hours.

Decay times of the excitation, typically measured in seconds, depend on the effectiveness of relaxation, which is faster for lighter nuclei and in solids, slower for heavier nuclei and in solutions, and can be very long in gases. If the second excitation pulse is sent prematurely before the relaxation is complete, the average magnetization vector has not decayed to ground state, which affects the strength of the signal in an unpredictable manner. In practice, the peak areas are then not proportional to the stoichiometry; only the presence, but not the amount of functional groups is possible to discern. An inversion recovery experiment can be done to determine the relaxation time and thus the required delay between pulses. A 180° pulse, an adjustable delay, and a 90° pulse is transmitted. When the 90° pulse exactly cancels out the signal, the delay corresponds to the time needed for 90° of relaxation.[20] Inversion recovery is worthwhile for quantitative 13C, 2D and other time-consuming experiments.

## Spectral interpretation

NMR signals are ordinarily characterized by three variables: chemical shift, spin–spin coupling, and relaxation time.

### Chemical shift

Main article: Physics:Chemical shift

Example of the chemical shift: NMR spectrum of hexaborane B6H10 showing peaks shifted in frequency, which give clues as to the molecular structure (click to read interpretation details)

\--> The energy difference ΔE between nuclear spin states is proportional to the magnetic field (Zeeman effect). ΔE is also sensitive to the electronic environment of the nucleus, giving rise to what is known as the chemical shift, δ. The simplest types of NMR graphs are plots of the different chemical shifts of the nuclei being studied in the molecule. The value of δ is often expressed in terms of "shielding": shielded nuclei have higher ΔE. The range of δ values is called the dispersion. It is rather small for 1H signals, but much larger for other nuclei. NMR signals are reported relative to a reference signal, usually that of TMS (tetramethylsilane). Additionally, since the distribution of NMR signals is field-dependent, these frequencies are divided by the spectrometer frequency. However, since we are dividing Hz by MHz, the resulting number would be too small, and thus it is multiplied by a million. This operation therefore gives a locator number called the "chemical shift" with units of parts per million.[21] The chemical shift provides structural information.

The conversion of chemical shifts (and J's, see below) is called assigning the spectrum. For diamagnetic organic compounds, assignments of 1H and 13C NMR spectra are extremely sophisticated because of the large databases and easy computational tools. In general, chemical shifts for protons are highly predictable, since the shifts are primarily determined by shielding effects (electron density). The chemical shifts for many heavier nuclei are more strongly influenced by other factors, including excited states ("paramagnetic" contribution to shielding tensor). This paramagnetic contribution, which is unrelated to paramagnetism) not only disrupts trends in chemical shifts, which complicates assignments, but it also gives rise to very large chemical shift ranges. For example, most 1H NMR signals for most organic compounds are within 15 ppm. For 31P NMR, the range is hundreds of ppm.[22]

In paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy, the samples are paramagnetic, i.e. they contain unpaired electrons. The paramagnetism gives rise to very diverse chemical shifts. In 1H NMR spectroscopy, the chemical shift range can span up to thousands of ppm.[23]

### J-coupling

Main article: Physics:J-coupling

Multiplicity | Intensity ratio

|

Singlet (s) | 1
Doublet (d) | 1:1
Triplet (t) | 1:2:1
Quartet (q) | 1:3:3:1
Quintet | 1:4:6:4:1
Sextet | 1:5:10:10:5:1
Septet | 1:6:15:20:15:6:1

Example 1H NMR spectrum (1-dimensional) of ethanol plotted as signal intensity vs. chemical shift. There are three different types of H atoms in ethanol regarding NMR: the hydrogen (H) on the −OH group is not coupling with the other H atoms and appears as a singlet, but the CH3− and the −CH2− hydrogens are coupling with each other, resulting in a triplet and quartet respectively.

For example, in the proton spectrum for ethanol, the CH3 group is split into a triplet with an intensity ratio of 1:2:1 by the two neighboring CH2 protons. Similarly, the CH2 is split into a quartet with an intensity ratio of 1:3:3:1 by the three neighboring CH3 protons. In principle, the two CH2 protons would also be split again into a doublet to form a doublet of quartets by the hydroxyl proton, but intermolecular exchange of the acidic hydroxyl proton often results in a loss of coupling information.

Coupling to any spin-1/2 nuclei such as phosphorus-31 or fluorine-19 works in this fashion (although the magnitudes of the coupling constants may be very different). But the splitting patterns differ from those described above for nuclei with spin greater than 1/2 because the spin quantum number has more than two possible values. For instance, coupling to deuterium (a spin-1 nucleus) splits the signal into a 1:1:1 triplet because the spin 1 has three spin states. Similarly, a spin-3/2 nucleus such as 35Cl splits a signal into a 1:1:1:1 quartet and so on.

Coupling combined with the chemical shift (and the integration for protons) tells us not only about the chemical environment of the nuclei, but also the number of neighboring NMR active nuclei within the molecule. In more complex spectra with multiple peaks at similar chemical shifts or in spectra of nuclei other than hydrogen, coupling is often the only way to distinguish different nuclei.

The magnitude of the coupling (the coupling constant J) is an effect of how strongly the nuclei are coupled to each other. For simple cases, this is an effect of the bonding distance between the nuclei, the magnetic moment of the nuclei, and the dihedral angle between them.

#### Second-order (or strong) coupling

1H NMR spectrum of menthol with chemical shift in ppm on the horizontal axis. Each magnetically inequivalent proton has a characteristic shift, and couplings to other protons appear as splitting of the peaks into multiplets: e.g. peak a, because of the three magnetically equivalent protons in methyl group a, couple to one adjacent proton (e) and thus appears as a doublet.

The above description assumes that the coupling constant is small in comparison with the difference in NMR frequencies between the inequivalent spins. If the shift separation decreases (or the coupling strength increases), the multiplet intensity patterns are first distorted, and then become more complex and less easily analyzed (especially if more than two spins are involved). Intensification of some peaks in a multiplet is achieved at the expense of the remainder, which sometimes almost disappear in the background noise, although the integrated area under the peaks remains constant. In most high-field NMR, however, the distortions are usually modest, and the characteristic distortions (roofing) can in fact help to identify related peaks.

Some of these patterns can be analyzed with the method published by John Pople,[24] though it has limited scope.

Second-order effects decrease as the frequency difference between multiplets increases, so that high-field (i.e. high-frequency) NMR spectra display less distortion than lower-frequency spectra. Early spectra at 60 MHz were more prone to distortion than spectra from later machines typically operating at frequencies at 200 MHz or above.

Furthermore, as in the figure to the right, J-coupling can be used to identify ortho-meta-para substitution of a ring. Ortho coupling is the strongest at 15 Hz, Meta follows with an average of 2 Hz, and finally para coupling is usually insignificant for studies.

#### Magnetic inequivalence

More subtle effects can occur if chemically equivalent spins (i.e., nuclei related by symmetry and so having the same NMR frequency) have different coupling relationships to external spins. Spins that are chemically equivalent but are not indistinguishable (based on their coupling relationships) are termed magnetically inequivalent. For example, the 4 H sites of 1,2-dichlorobenzene divide into two chemically equivalent pairs by symmetry, but an individual member of one of the pairs has different couplings to the spins making up the other pair.

Magnetic inequivalence can lead to highly complex spectra, which can only be analyzed by computational modeling. Such effects are more common in NMR spectra of aromatic and other non-flexible systems, while conformational averaging about C−C bonds in flexible molecules tends to equalize the couplings between protons on adjacent carbons, reducing problems with magnetic inequivalence.

## Correlation spectroscopy

Correlation spectroscopy is one of several types of two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy or 2D-NMR. This type of NMR experiment is best known by its acronym, COSY. Other types of two-dimensional NMR include J-spectroscopy, exchange spectroscopy (EXSY), Nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY), total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY), and heteronuclear correlation experiments, such as HSQC, HMQC, and HMBC. In correlation spectroscopy, emission is centered on the peak of an individual nucleus; if its magnetic field is correlated with another nucleus by through-bond (COSY, HSQC, etc.) or through-space (NOE) coupling, a response can also be detected on the frequency of the correlated nucleus. Two-dimensional NMR spectra provide more information about a molecule than one-dimensional NMR spectra and are especially useful in determining the structure of a molecule, particularly for molecules that are too complicated to work with using one-dimensional NMR. The first two-dimensional experiment, COSY, was proposed by Jean Jeener, a professor at Université Libre de Bruxelles, in 1971.[25][26] This experiment was later implemented by Walter P. Aue, Enrico Bartholdi and Richard R. Ernst, who published their work in 1976.[27]

## Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance

Solid-state 900 MHz (21.1 T[28]) NMR spectrometer at the Canadian National Ultrahigh-field NMR Facility for Solids

A variety of physical circumstances do not allow molecules to be studied in solution, and at the same time not by other spectroscopic techniques to an atomic level, either. In solid-phase media, such as crystals, microcrystalline powders, gels, anisotropic solutions, etc., it is in particular the dipolar coupling and chemical shift anisotropy that become dominant to the behaviour of the nuclear spin systems. In conventional solution-state NMR spectroscopy, these additional interactions would lead to a significant broadening of spectral lines. A variety of techniques allows establishing high-resolution conditions, that can, at least for 13C spectra, be comparable to solution-state NMR spectra.

Two important concepts for high-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopy are the limitation of possible molecular orientation by sample orientation, and the reduction of anisotropic nuclear magnetic interactions by sample spinning. Of the latter approach, fast spinning around the magic angle is a very prominent method, when the system comprises spin-1/2 nuclei. Spinning rates of about 20 kHz are used, which demands special equipment. A number of intermediate techniques, with samples of partial alignment or reduced mobility, is currently[when?] being used in NMR spectroscopy.[citation needed]

Applications in which solid-state NMR effects occur are often related to structure investigations on membrane proteins, protein fibrils or all kinds of polymers, and chemical analysis in inorganic chemistry, but also include "exotic" applications like the plant leaves and fuel cells. For example, Rahmani et al. studied the effect of pressure and temperature on the bicellar structures' self-assembly using deuterium NMR spectroscopy.[29] Solid-state NMR is useful also for metal structure understanding in case of X-ray amorphous metal samples (like nano-size refractory metal 99Tc) .[30] Recent studies have combined solid-state NMR with molecular dynamics simulations to resolve nanosecond-to-millisecond-scale motions in hydrated materials like amorphous calcium carbonate.[31]

## Biomolecular NMR spectroscopy

### Proteins

Main article: Physics:Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins

Much of the innovation within NMR spectroscopy has been within the field of protein NMR spectroscopy, an important technique in structural biology. A common goal of these investigations is to obtain high resolution 3-dimensional structures of the protein, similar to what can be achieved by X-ray crystallography. In contrast to X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy is usually limited to proteins smaller than 35 kDa, although larger structures have been solved. NMR spectroscopy is often the only way to obtain high resolution information on partially or wholly intrinsically unstructured proteins. It is now a common tool for the determination of Conformation Activity Relationships where the structure before and after interaction with, for example, a drug candidate is compared to its known biochemical activity. Proteins are orders of magnitude larger than the small organic molecules discussed earlier in this article, but the basic NMR techniques and some NMR theory also applies. Because of the much higher number of atoms present in a protein molecule in comparison with a small organic compound, the basic 1D spectra become crowded with overlapping signals to an extent where direct spectral analysis becomes untenable. Therefore, multidimensional (2, 3 or 4D) experiments have been devised to deal with this problem. To facilitate these experiments, it is desirable to isotopically label the protein with 13C and 15N because the predominant naturally occurring isotope 12C is not NMR-active and the nuclear quadrupole moment of the predominant naturally occurring 14N isotope prevents high resolution information from being obtained from this nitrogen isotope. The most important method used for structure determination of proteins utilizes NOE experiments to measure distances between atoms within the molecule. Subsequently, the distances obtained are used to generate a 3D structure of the molecule by solving a distance geometry problem. NMR can also be used to obtain information on the dynamics and conformational flexibility of different regions of a protein.

### Nucleic acids

Main article: Physics:Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of nucleic acids

Nucleic acid NMR is the use of NMR spectroscopy to obtain information about the structure and dynamics of polynucleic acids, such as DNA or RNA. As of 2003[update], nearly half of all known RNA structures had been determined by NMR spectroscopy.[32]

Nucleic acid and protein NMR spectroscopy are similar but differences exist. Nucleic acids have a smaller percentage of hydrogen atoms, which are the atoms usually observed in NMR spectroscopy, and because nucleic acid double helices are stiff and roughly linear, they do not fold back on themselves to give "long-range" correlations.[33] The types of NMR usually done with nucleic acids are 1H or proton NMR, 13C NMR, 15N NMR, and 31P NMR. Two-dimensional NMR methods are almost always used, such as correlation spectroscopy (COSY) and total coherence transfer spectroscopy (TOCSY) to detect through-bond nuclear couplings, and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) to detect couplings between nuclei that are close to each other in space.[34]

Parameters taken from the spectrum, mainly NOESY cross-peaks and coupling constants, can be used to determine local structural features such as glycosidic bond angles, dihedral angles (using the Karplus equation), and sugar pucker conformations. For large-scale structure, these local parameters must be supplemented with other structural assumptions or models, because errors add up as the double helix is traversed, and unlike with proteins, the double helix does not have a compact interior and does not fold back upon itself. NMR is also useful for investigating nonstandard geometries such as bent helices, non-Watson–Crick basepairing, and coaxial stacking. It has been especially useful in probing the structure of natural RNA oligonucleotides, which tend to adopt complex conformations such as stem-loops and pseudoknots. NMR is also useful for probing the binding of nucleic acid molecules to other molecules, such as proteins or drugs, by seeing which resonances are shifted upon binding of the other molecule.[34]

### Carbohydrates

Main article: Physics:Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of carbohydrates

Carbohydrate NMR spectroscopy addresses questions on the structure and conformation of carbohydrates. The analysis of carbohydrates by 1H NMR is challenging due to the limited variation in functional groups, which leads to 1H resonances concentrated in narrow bands of the NMR spectrum. In other words, there is poor spectral dispersion. The anomeric proton resonances are segregated from the others due to fact that the anomeric carbons bear two oxygen atoms. For smaller carbohydrates, the dispersion of the anomeric proton resonances facilitates the use of 1D TOCSY experiments to investigate the entire spin systems of individual carbohydrate residues.

### Drug discovery

Knowledge of energy minima and rotational energy barriers of small molecules in solution can be found using NMR, e.g. looking at free ligand conformational preferences and conformational dynamics, respectively. This can be used to guide drug design hypotheses, since experimental and calculated values are comparable. For example, AstraZeneca uses NMR for its oncology research & development.[35]

## High-pressure NMR spectroscopy

One of the first scientific works devoted to the use of pressure as a variable parameter in NMR experiments was the work of J. Jonas published in the journal Annual Review of Biophysics in 1994.[36] The use of high pressures in NMR spectroscopy was primarily driven by the desire to study biochemical systems, where the use of high pressure allows controlled changes in intermolecular interactions without significant perturbations.

Of course, attempts have been made to solve scientific problems using high-pressure NMR spectroscopy. However, most of them were difficult to reproduce due to the problem of equipment for creating and maintaining high pressure. In [37][38][39] the most common types of NMR cells for realization of high-pressure NMR experiments are given.[clarification needed]

High-pressure NMR spectroscopy has been widely used for a variety of applications, mainly related to the characterization of the structure of protein molecules.[40][41] However, in recent years, software and design solutions have been proposed to characterize the chemical and spatial structures of small molecules in a supercritical fluid environment,[42] using state parameters as a driving force for such changes.[43]

## See also

* Earth's field NMR
* In vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy
* Functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the brain
* Low field NMR
* Magnetic Resonance Imaging
* NMR crystallography
* NMR spectra database
* NMR spectroscopy of stereoisomers
* Nuclear quadrupole resonance
* Pulsed field magnet
* Proton-enhanced nuclear induction spectroscopy
* Triple-resonance nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
* Zero field NMR
* Nuclear magnetic resonance decoupling

* Quantum mechanics of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy

Related methods of nuclear spectroscopy:

* Mössbauer effect
* Muon spin spectroscopy
* Perturbed angular correlation

## References

1. ↑ Charles P. Slichter (1963). Principles of magnetic resonance: with examples from solid state physics. Harper & Row. ISBN 978-3-540-08476-1.
2. ↑ Structural biology: practical NMR applications (2nd ed.). Springer. 6 September 2012. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4614-3964-6. https://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9781461439639-c1.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1344209-p174670341. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
3. ↑ Marc S. Reisch (June 29, 2015). "NMR Instrument Price Hikes Spook Users". CEN. https://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i26/NMR-Instrument-Price-Hikes-Spook.html.
4. ↑ "Taking It Higher". The Scientist. Oct 30, 2000. https://www.the-scientist.com/technology-profile/taking-it-higher-55417.
5. ↑ Paudler, William (1974). Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Chemistry Series. pp. 9–11.
6. ↑ "Discovery of NMR". http://mriquestions.com/who-discovered-nmr.html.
7. ↑ "Background and Theory Page of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility". Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre - University of Southern Wales Sydney. 9 December 2011. http://www.nmr.unsw.edu.au/usercorner/nmrhistory.htm.
8. ↑ "4.7: NMR Spectroscopy" (in en). 2016-07-14. https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analytical_Chemistry/Physical_Methods_in_Chemistry_and_Nano_Science_(Barron)/04:_Chemical_Speciation/4.07:_NMR_Spectroscopy.
9. ↑ Balci, Metin (2005). "Dynamic NMR Spectroscopy". Basic 1H- and 13C-NMR Spectroscopy. Elsevier. pp. 213–231. doi:10.1016/b978-044451811-8.50008-5. ISBN 978-0-444-51811-8.
10. ↑ "NMR active nuclei for biological and biomedical applications" (in en-GB). 17 June 2016. https://openmedscience.com/nmr-active-nuclei-for-biological-and-biomedical-applications/.
11. ↑ Kuznetsov, Vitaly V.; Poineau, Frederic; German, Konstantin E.; Filatova, Elena A. (2024-11-11). "Pivotal role of 99Tc NMR spectroscopy in solid-state and molecular chemistry" (in en). Communications Chemistry 7 (1): 259. doi:10.1038/s42004-024-01349-2. ISSN 2399-3669. PMID 39528801. Bibcode: 2024CmChe...7..259K.
12. ↑ Shah, N.; Sattar, A.; Benanti, M.; Hollander, S.; Cheuck, L. (January 2006). "Magnetic resonance spectroscopy as an imaging tool for cancer: a review of the literature". The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 106 (1): 23–27. PMID 16428685. http://www.jaoa.org/content/106/1/23.full.
13. ↑ Johnson Jr., C. S. (1999). "Diffusion ordered nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: principles and applications". Progress in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy 34 (3–4): 203–256. doi:10.1016/S0079-6565(99)00003-5. Bibcode: 1999PNMRS..34..203J.
14. ↑ Neufeld, R.; Stalke, D. (2015). "Accurate Molecular Weight Determination of Small Molecules via DOSY-NMR by Using External Calibration Curves with Normalized Diffusion Coefficients". Chem. Sci. 6 (6): 3354–3364. doi:10.1039/C5SC00670H. PMID 29142693.
15. ↑ Hanson, John E. (2013). "5. NMR Spectroscopy in Nondeuterated Solvents (No-D NMR): Applications in the Undergraduate Organic Laboratory". NMR Spectroscopy in the Undergraduate Curriculum. ACS Symposium Series. 1128. American Chemical Society. pp. 69–81. doi:10.1021/bk-2013-1128.ch005. ISBN 978-0-8412-2794-1.
16. ↑ Gottlieb, Hugo E.; Kotlyar, Vadim; Nudelman, Abraham (1997-10-01). "NMR Chemical Shifts of Common Laboratory Solvents as Trace Impurities" (in en). The Journal of Organic Chemistry 62 (21): 7512–7515. doi:10.1021/jo971176v. ISSN 0022-3263. PMID 11671879. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jo971176v.
17. ↑ Tiers, George Van Dyke (September 1958). "Reliable Proton Nuclear Resonance Shielding Values by "Internal Referencing" with Tetramethyl-silane" (in en). The Journal of Physical Chemistry 62 (9): 1151–1152. doi:10.1021/j150567a041. ISSN 0022-3654. Bibcode: 1958JPhCh..62.1151T. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/j150567a041.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "The Lock". Washington State University. http://nmr.chem.wsu.edu/tutorials/basics/lock/.
19. ↑ "NMR Artifacts". Michigan State University. http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/facilities/nmr/NMR_Artifacts.html.
20. ↑ Parella, Teodor. "T1 Measurement using Inversion-Recovery". NMRGuide3.5. http://triton.iqfr.csic.es/guide/eNMR/eNMR1D/invrec.html.
21. ↑ James Keeler. "Chapter 2: NMR and energy levels" (reprinted at University of Cambridge). Understanding NMR Spectroscopy. University of California, Irvine. http://www-keeler.ch.cam.ac.uk/lectures/Irvine/chapter2.pdf.
22. ↑ Peter Atkins (1994). Physical Chemistry (5 ed.). Freeman.
23. ↑ Ott, J. C.; Wadepohl, H.; Enders, M.; Gade, L. H. (2018). "Taking Solution Proton NMR to Its Extreme: Prediction and Detection of a Hydride Resonance in an Intermediate-Spin Iron Complex". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 140 (50): 17413–17417. doi:10.1021/jacs.8b11330. PMID 30486649. Bibcode: 2018JAChS.14017413O.
24. ↑ Pople, J. A.; Bernstein, H. J.; Schneider, W. G. (1957). "The Analysis of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectra". Can. J. Chem. 35: 65–81. doi:10.1139/v57-143.
25. ↑ Aue, W. P. (1976). "Two-dimensional spectroscopy. Application to nuclear magnetic resonance". The Journal of Chemical Physics 64 (5): 2229. doi:10.1063/1.432450. Bibcode: 1976JChPh..64.2229A.
26. ↑ Jeener, Jean (2007). "Jeener, Jean: Reminiscences about the Early Days of 2D NMR". Encyclopedia of Magnetic Resonance. doi:10.1002/9780470034590.emrhp0087. ISBN 978-0-470-03459-0.
27. ↑ Martin, G.E; Zekter, A.S., Two-Dimensional NMR Methods for Establishing Molecular Connectivity; VCH Publishers, Inc: New York, 1988 (p.59)
28. ↑ "National Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility for Solids". http://nmr900.ca/instrument_e.html.
29. ↑ A. Rahmani, C. Knight, and M. R. Morrow. "Response to hydrostatic pressure of bicellar dispersions containing anionic lipid: Pressure-induced interdigitation". 2013, 29 (44), pp. 13481–13490, doi:10.1021/la4035694.
30. ↑ Kuznetsov, Vitaly V.; Poineau, Frederic; German, Konstantin E.; Filatova, Elena A. (2024-11-11). "Pivotal role of 99Tc NMR spectroscopy in solid-state and molecular chemistry" (in en). Communications Chemistry 7 (1): 259. doi:10.1038/s42004-024-01349-2. ISSN 2399-3669. PMID 39528801. Bibcode: 2024CmChe...7..259K.
31. ↑ Vinod‑Kumar; Smith‑Penzel; Redrouthu; Gindele; Gebauer; Mathies (2025). "Investigation of the structure and dynamics of amorphous calcium carbonate by NMR: stabilization by poly‑aspartate and comparison to monohydrocalcite". Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 27 (19): 13291–13300. doi:10.1039/d5cp01002k. PMID 40326785. Bibcode: 2025PCCP...2710348V.
32. ↑ Fürtig, Boris; Richter, Christian; Wöhnert, Jens; Schwalbe, Harald (2003). "NMR Spectroscopy of RNA". ChemBioChem 4 (10): 936–62. doi:10.1002/cbic.200300700. PMID 14523911.
33. ↑ Addess, Kenneth J.; Feigon, Juli (1996). "Introduction to 1H NMR Spectroscopy of DNA". in Hecht, Sidney M.. Bioorganic Chemistry: Nucleic Acids. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-508467-2.
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Wemmer, David (2000). "Chapter 5: Structure and Dynamics by NMR". in Bloomfield, Victor A.. Nucleic acids: Structures, Properties, and Functions. Sausalito, California: University Science Books. ISBN 978-0-935702-49-1.
35. ↑ Balazs, Amber; Davies, Nichola; Longmire, David; Packer, Martin; Chiarparin, Elisabetta (2021). "NMR free ligand conformations and atomic resolution dynamics". Magnetic Resonance Discussions: 1–16. doi:10.5194/mr-2021-27.
36. ↑ Jonas, J; Jonas, A (June 1994). "High-Pressure NMR Spectroscopy of Proteins and Membranes" (in en). Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure 23 (1): 287–318. doi:10.1146/annurev.bb.23.060194.001443. ISSN 1056-8700. PMID 7919784. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.bb.23.060194.001443.
37. ↑ Benedek, G. B.; Purcell, E. M. (1954-12-01). "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Liquids under High Pressure" (in en). The Journal of Chemical Physics 22 (12): 2003–2012. doi:10.1063/1.1739982. ISSN 0021-9606. Bibcode: 1954JChPh..22.2003B. https://pubs.aip.org/jcp/article/22/12/2003/202967/Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance-in-Liquids-under-High.
38. ↑ Kamatari, Y (September 2004). "High-pressure NMR spectroscopy for characterizing folding intermediates and denatured states of proteins" (in en). Methods 34 (1): 133–143. doi:10.1016/j.ymeth.2004.03.010. PMID 15283922. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1046202304000581.
39. ↑ Peterson, Ronald W.; Wand, A. Joshua (2005-09-01). "Self-contained high-pressure cell, apparatus, and procedure for the preparation of encapsulated proteins dissolved in low viscosity fluids for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy" (in en). Review of Scientific Instruments 76 (9): 094101–094101–7. doi:10.1063/1.2038087. ISSN 0034-6748. PMID 16508692. Bibcode: 2005RScI...76i4101P.
40. ↑ Dubois, Cécile; Herrada, Isaline; Barthe, Philippe; Roumestand, Christian (2020-11-26). "Combining High-Pressure Perturbation with NMR Spectroscopy for a Structural and Dynamical Characterization of Protein Folding Pathways" (in en). Molecules 25 (23): 5551. doi:10.3390/molecules25235551. ISSN 1420-3049. PMID 33256081.
41. ↑ Gagné, Donald; Azad, Roksana; Aramini, James M.; Xu, Xingjian; Isiorho, Eta A.; Edupuganti, Uthama R.; Williams, Justin; Marcelino, Leandro Pimentel; Akasaka, Kazuyuki (2020-08-26). "Use of High Pressure NMR Spectroscopy to Rapidly Identify Proteins with Internal Ligand-Binding Voids". bioRxiv 10.1101/2020.08.25.267195.
42. ↑ Khodov, I.A.; Belov, K.V.; Krestyaninov, M.A.; Sobornova, V.V.; Dyshin, A.A.; Kiselev, M.G. (August 2023). "Does DMSO affect the conformational changes of drug molecules in supercritical CO2 Media?" (in en). Journal of Molecular Liquids 384. doi:10.1016/j.molliq.2023.122230. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0167732223010334.
43. ↑ Khodov, I.A.; Belov, K.V.; Dyshin, A.A.; Krestyaninov, M.A.; Kiselev, M.G. (December 2022). "Pressure effect on lidocaine conformational equilibria in scCO2: A study by 2D NOESY" (in en). Journal of Molecular Liquids 367. doi:10.1016/j.molliq.2022.120525. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0167732222020645.

## Further reading

* John D. Roberts (1959). Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: applications to organic chemistry. McGraw-Hill Book Company. ISBN 978-1-258-81166-2. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechBOOK:1959.001.
* J.A.Pople; W.G.Schneider; H.J.Bernstein (1959). High-resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
* A. Abragam (1961). The Principles of Nuclear Magnetism. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-852014-6.
* Charles P. Slichter (1963). Principles of magnetic resonance: with examples from solid state physics. Harper & Row. ISBN 978-3-540-08476-1.
* John Emsley; James Feeney; Leslie Howard Sutcliffe (1965). High Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Pergamon. ISBN 978-1-4831-8408-1.

## External links

* James Keeler. "Understanding NMR Spectroscopy" (reprinted at University of Cambridge). University of California, Irvine. http://www-keeler.ch.cam.ac.uk/lectures/Irvine/.
* The Basics of NMR \- A non-technical overview of NMR theory, equipment, and techniques by Dr. Joseph Hornak, Professor of Chemistry at RIT
* GAMMA and PyGAMMA Libraries \- GAMMA is an open source C++ library written for the simulation of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy experiments. PyGAMMA is a Python wrapper around GAMMA.
* relax Software for the analysis of NMR dynamics
* Vespa \- VeSPA (Versatile Simulation, Pulses and Analysis) is a free software suite composed of three Python applications. These GUI based tools are for magnetic resonance (MR) spectral simulation, RF pulse design, and spectral processing and analysis of MR data.
* Jaroslaw Jazwinski "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Organic Chemistry: Theoretical Foundations and Measurement Techniques"
* Witold Danikiewicz, Olga Staszewska-Krajewska "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Organic Chemistry: Basic and Advanced Methods of Spectra Interpretation"

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Reference

1H and 13C chemical shifts

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