Selective measurement of 1 H-1 H scalar couplings from crowded chemical shift regions: Combined pure shift and spin-echo modulation approach

Pure shift edited NMR methodologies for the extraction of Homo- and heteronuclear couplings with ultra-high resolution

The scalar couplings that result in the splitting of the signals in the NMR spectrum arise due to the interaction of the nuclear spins, whereby the spin polarization is transmitted through chemical bonds. The interaction strengths depend inter alia on the number of consecutive chemical bonds intervening between the two interacting spins and on the molecular conformation. The pairwise interaction of many spins in a molecule resulting in a complex spectrum poses a severe challenge to analyse the spectrum and hence the determination of magnitudes and signs of homo- and heteronuclear couplings. The problem is more severe in the analysis of 1H spectra than the spectra of most of the other nuclei due to the often very small chemical shift dispersion. As a consequence, the straightforward analysis and the accurate extraction of the coupling constants from the 1H spectrum of a complex spin system continues to remain a challenge, and often may be a formidable task. Over the years, the several pure shift-based one-dimensional and two-dimensional methodologies have been developed by workers in the field, which provide broadband homonuclear decoupling of proton spectra, removing the complexity but at the cost of the very informative scalar couplings. To circumvent this problem, several one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR experiments have been developed for the determination of homonuclear and heteronuclear couplings (nJHX, where n = 1,2,3) while retaining the high resolution obtained by implementing pure shift strategies. This review attempts to summarize the extensive work reported by a large number of researchers over the years for the accurate determination of homo- and heteronuclear scalar couplings.

Pushing resolution limits for extracting 1H-1H scalar coupling constants by a resolution-enhanced selective refocusing method

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy enables one to study molecular structure and dynamics in a noninvasive manner and has long served as a versatile and indispensable analytical tool in physics, chemistry, and biology. Scalar coupling, an essential feature in NMR spectroscopy, provides rich information regarding molecular structure and conformation. The measurement of scalar coupling constants, therefore, constitutes an important issue in NMR spectroscopy. Homonuclear 2D J-resolved spectroscopy is a powerful tool for multiplet analysis and coupling measurement. Recently, a number of phase-sensitive J-resolved methods and selective measuring methods have been developed to facilitate the extraction of coupling constants. However, resolution remains a crucial challenge when extracting small coupling constants or under inhomogeneous fields. In this paper, we present a resolution-enhanced selective refocusing (RESERF) method for the extraction of coupling constants. The effect of magnetic field inhomogeneity can be eliminated, resulting in very narrow linewidths. Therefore, samples with small coupling constants or under inhomogeneous fields can be well analyzed. The RESERF method may be of great value for structural and conformational studies in chemistry and biology.

High-resolution methods for the measurement of scalar coupling constants

Scalar couplings provide important information regarding molecular structure and dynamics. The measurement of scalar coupling constants constitutes a topic of interest and significance in NMR spectroscopy. However, the measurement of J values is often not straightforward because of complex signal splitting patterns and signal overlap. Many methods have been proposed for the measurement of scalar coupling constants, both for homonuclear and heteronuclear cases. Different approaches to the measurement of scalar coupling constants are reviewed here with several applications presented. The accurate measurement of scalar coupling constants can greatly facilitate molecular structure elucidation and the study of molecule dynamics.