Chemical Applications of NMR

The versatility of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has made it a widespread tool in chemistry for the study of chemical structure. In additional to the one-dimensional NMR spectroscopy used to study chemical bonds, two dimensional approaches have been developed for the determination of the structure of complex molecules like proteins. Time domain NMR spectroscopy is used to study molecular dynamics in solutions. NMR of solid samples can help determine molecular structures. There are NMR methods for measuring diffusion coefficients.

NMR spectroscopy has contributed enormously to chemical knowledge. A wide range of techniques has been used with a range of magnetic fields including high-field superconducting magnets. NMR frequencies from 60 to 800 MHz have been used for hydrogens, compared to the range of about 15 to 80 MHz for medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

One of the major sources of chemical information is the measurement of chemical shifts in high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. The chemical shifts are a very sensitive probe of the chemical environment of the resonating nuclei.