HCSE method for detection of small carbon–carbon couplings and their signs,comparison with SLAP pulse sequence

Performance of homonuclear coupling sign edited (HCSE) experiment applied to detection of signed carbon–carbon couplings is discussed using a set of already measured samples of nine monosubstituted benzenes. It is shown that coupling sign detection is insensitive to the settings of carbon–carbon polarization transfer delays. The HCSE spectra of ten from the total of 43 measured carbon–carbon couplings were considerably influenced by relaxations and proton–proton strong couplings. These effects are quantitatively discussed. The results of HCSE and SLAP experiments are compared. It is shown that the two methods may complement each other in detection of signed carbon–carbon couplings. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2-Dimensional NMR in Carbohydrate Structural Analysis

Abstract

2-Dimensional FT NMR techniques have greatly expanded the power of NMR to unravel complex chemical structures. Homonuclear 2D J-resolved experiments can be helpful in sorting out complex over lapping coupling patterns, while homonuclear chemical shift correla tion experiments can be used to determine the homonuclear coupling networks. Heteronuclear chemical shift correlation experiments can indicate the source of direct or long-range heteronuclear couplings, and hence can be used to relate the proton spectrum to the carbon spectrum. Carbon-carbon connectivity experiments reflect carbon homonuclear couplings, and, while the most insensitive of all the techniques, can be the most powerful in directly revealing the molecular framework. Techniques such as these can be used either individually or in combination to reveal part or all of the structural features of both simple and complex carbohydrates. The general features of 2D experiments are discussed in the context of their application to carbohydrates.     

J‐compensated PGSE: an improved NMR diffusion experiment with fewer phase distortions

Peak distortion caused by homonuclear ¹H J‐coupling is a major problem in many spin‐echo‐based experiments such as pulsed gradient spin‐echo (PGSE) experiments. Although peak phase distortions can be lessened by the incorporation of anti‐phase purging sequences, the sensitivity is substantially decreased. Techniques for lessening the effect of homonuclear J‐coupling evolution in spin‐echo‐based experiments have been investigated. Two potentially useful candidates include a J‐compensated inversion sequence that is efficient over a wide range of J‐coupling values and a pulse sequence that refocuses homonuclear J‐evolution during the spin‐echo. The latter was found to work superbly on samples containing two spin (AX or AB) systems and still provided significant advantage over the standard method on samples containing more complicated spin systems. Implementation of this J‐refocusing technique into a PGSE‐type experiment (J‐PGSE) leads to dramatic improvement of spectra and easier data analysis. The J‐PGSE sequence should find applications in many diffusion studies where the PGSE‐type method is required and should be a viable alternative to PGSTE especially in dilute samples due to its enhanced sensitivity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectra edited by relative signs of homonuclear couplings of low abundance nuclei

The proposed homonuclear coupling sign edited (HCSE) experiment can detect signed homonuclear couplings between low abundant nuclei like ¹³C, ²⁹Si and ¹⁵N in linear spin systems, that is, in systems where two nuclei are coupled by the measured coupling, and one of them is coupled by a second coupling to a nucleus of different kind. The third nucleus is usually high abundant hydrogen. Two spectra are measured during the HCSE experiment. Their weighed sum and difference yield two other spectra, one containing peaks coupled only by positive measured couplings and the other having peaks coupled by negative measured couplings. The usual E.COSY‐type experiment requires all three couplings in the three spin system (triangular spin system) and not only two couplings as the HCSE experiment. The experiment was successfully tested on known carbon–carbon and silicon–silicon two bond couplings. A set of six simple siloxanes with |²J(Si‐O‐Si)| couplings ranging from 0.5 to 9.0 Hz was measured for the first time, and all the couplings were found to be positive. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low-power composite CPMG HSQMBC experiment for accurate measurement of long-range heteronuclear coupling constants

A modified version of CPMG-HSQMBC pulse scheme is presented for the measurement of long-range heteronuclear coupling constants. The method implements adiabatic inversion and refocusing pulses on the heteronucleus. Low-power composite 180° XY-16 CPMG pulse train is applied on both proton and X nuclei during the evolution of long-range couplings to eliminate phase distortions due to co-evolution of homonuclear proton-proton couplings. The pulse sequence yields pure absorption antiphase multiplets allowing precise and direct measurement of the (n)J(XH) coupling constants regardless from the size of the proton-proton couplings. The applicability of the method is demonstrated using strychnine as a model compound. The selective 1D version of the method is also presented.     

A new NMR method for determining the particle thickness in nanocomposites, using T2,H-selective X{1H} recoupling

A new nuclear magnetic resonance approach for characterizing the thickness of phosphate, silicate, carbonate, and other nanoparticles in organic-inorganic nanocomposites is presented. The particle thickness is probed using the strongly distant-dependent dipolar couplings between the abundant protons in the organic phase and X nuclei (31P, 29Si, 13C, 27Al, 23Na, etc.) in the inorganic phase. This approach requires pulse sequences with heteronuclear dephasing only by the polymer or surface protons that experience strong homonuclear interactions, but not by dispersed OH or water protons in the inorganic phase, which have long transverse relaxation times T2,H. This goal is achieved by heteronuclear recoupling with dephasing by strong homonuclear interactions of protons (HARDSHIP). The pulse sequence alternates heteronuclear recoupling for approximately 0.15 ms with periods of homonuclear dipolar dephasing that are flanked by canceling 90 degrees pulses. The heteronuclear evolution of the long-T2,H protons is refocused within two recoupling periods, so that 1H spin diffusion cannot significantly dephase these coherences. For the short-T2,H protons of a relatively immobile organic matrix, the heteronuclear dephasing rate depends simply on the heteronuclear second moment. Homonuclear interactions do not affect the dephasing, even though no homonuclear decoupling is applied, because long-range 1H-X dipolar couplings approximately commute with short-range 1H-1H couplings, and heteronuclear recoupling periods are relatively short. This is shown in a detailed analysis based on interaction representations. The algorithm for simulating the dephasing data is described. The new method is demonstrated on a clay-polymer nanocomposite, diamond nanocrystals with protonated surfaces, and the bioapatite-collagen nanocomposite in bone, as well as pure clay and hydroxyapatite. The diameters of the nanoparticles in these materials range between 1 and 5 nm. Simulations show that spherical particles of up to 10 nm diameter can be characterized quite easily.     

Determination of (1)H homonuclear scalar couplings in unlabeled carbohydrates

The scarcity of structural information on carbohydrates results from combined difficulties to crystallize and the limitations in NMR analysis. Current methods for determining basic NMR parameters such as (1)H homonuclear scalar couplings are very limited, especially for large molecules such as polysaccharides, oligonucleotides, and the carbohydrate part of glycoproteins. In this paper, a NMR experiment for the determination of endocyclic (1)H homonuclear scalar couplings ((3)J(HH)) in unlabeled carbohydrates is presented. In addition to scalar couplings, cross-correlated dipole-dipole relaxation rates were measured for large polysaccharides. The measurement of all endocyclic homonuclear coupling constants within monosaccharide units is presented for lactose, a model disaccharide, and for a natural-abundance 2 MDa bacterial polysaccharide excreted by Streptococcus thermophilus Sfi39.     

HSQC pulse sequences for 19F

Heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) sequences using adiabatic (or composite) 180 degrees pulses, suitable for applications requiring wide spectral widths in F2, are described. The sequences can be used with or without multiplicity editing. One variant will work even in the presence of homonuclear couplings that are equal to the heteronuclear 1-bond coupling.     

Quantitative 2D HSQC (Q-HSQC) via suppression of J-dependence of polarization transfer in NMR spectroscopy: application to wood lignin

A quantitative method to record (1)H-(13)C correlation NMR spectra (Q-HSQC) is presented. The suppression of (1)J(CH)-dependence is achieved by modulating the polarization transfer delays of HSQC. In addition, the effect of homonuclear couplings, as well as relaxation during the pulse sequence are discussed. We developed the Q-HSQC approach for the quantitative analysis of wood lignin, a complex polymer where it has been difficult to obtain reliable data on the relative amounts of different structural units. The current method is applicable to a variety of complex mixtures, where normal 1D (1)H- and (13)C-NMR methods fail.     

Double-quantum homonuclear correlation magic angle sample spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of dipolar-coupled quadrupolar nuclei

A double-quantum homonuclear correlation nuclear magnetic resonance experiment for dipolar-coupled half-integer quadrupolar nuclei in solids is presented. The experiment is based on rotary resonance dipolar recoupling and uses bracketed spin-lock pulses to excite double-quantum coherence and later to convert it to the zero-quantum one. A central-transition-selective pi pulse at the beginning of the t1 evolution period differentiates coherence transfer pathways of double-quantum coherences arising from coupled spins and from a single spin, so that the latter can be efficiently filtered out by phase cycling. The experiment was tested on an aluminophosphate molecular sieve AlPO4-14, a material with a variety of aluminum quadrupolar coupling constants, isotropic chemical shifts and homonuclear distances. In a two-dimensional spectrum aluminum dipolar couplings with internuclear distances between 2.9 and 5.5 A were resolved. Although the experiment requires an application of weak radio-frequency fields, frequency offsets did not affect its performance crucially.     

Quenching echo modulations in NMR spectroscopy.

In NMR spectroscopy, homonuclear scalar couplings normally lead to modulations of spin echoes that tend to interfere with the accurate determination of transverse relaxation rates by Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) multiple refocusing experiments. Surprisingly, the echo modulations are largely cancelled when the refocusing pulses applied to the coupling partner deviate slightly from ideal pi rotations due to tilted effective radio-frequency (RF) fields, even at offsets that are much smaller than the radio-frequency amplitude. Experiments and simulations illustrate these effects for two-spin IS systems containing donor and acceptor (15)N nuclei I=N (D) and S=N(A) in RNA Watson-Crick base pairs with homonuclear scalar couplings J(IS)=(2h)J(N(D), N(A)) across the hydrogen bonds.     

SIAM,a Novel NMR Experiment for the Determination of Homonuclear Coupling Constants

The simultaneous acquisition of in-phase and antiphase multiplets with high sensitivity and minimum overlap (see section of 2D spectra on the right) is possible in a novel NMR experiment. Based on this method, homonuclear coupling constants such as the ³J(H^N,H^α) couplings in peptides and proteins can be determined quantitatively without isotope labeling.     

Selective internuclear coupling estimation in the solid-state NMR of multiple-spin systems

A new solid-state NMR method is presented for estimating homonuclear dipole-dipole couplings for selected groups of nuclear spins in a multiple-spin coupled network. The methodology combines off-magic-angle spinning, frequency selective spin echoes, and multiple quantum filtering. The new method is insensitive to incoherent relaxation effects and may be used to estimate weak couplings. Internuclear (13)C-(13)C couplings are estimated in uniformly (13)C-labelled l-Histidine·HCl·H(2)O. Weak intermolecular couplings between (13)C nuclei separated by distances exceeding 6 ? are estimated.     

Triple oscillating field technique for accurate distance measurements by solid-state NMR

We present a new concept for homonuclear dipolar recoupling in magic-angle-spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR experiments which avoids the problem of dipolar truncation. This is accomplished through the introduction of a new NMR pulse sequence design principle: the triple oscillating field technique. We demonstrate this technique as an efficient means to accomplish broadband dipolar recoupling of homonuclear spins, while decoupling heteronuclear dipolar couplings and anisotropic chemicals shifts and retaining influence from isotropic chemical shifts. In this manner, it is possible to synthesize Ising interaction (2IzSz) Hamiltonians in homonuclear spin networks and thereby avoid dipolar truncation--a serious problem essentially all previous homonuclear dipolar recoupling experiments suffer from. Combination of this recoupling concept with rotor assisted dipolar refocusing enables easy readout of internuclear distances through comparison with analytical Fresnel curves. This forms the basis for a new class of solid-state NMR experiments with potential for structure analysis of uniformly 13C labeled proteins through accurate measurement of 13C-13C internuclear distances. The concept is demonstrated experimentally by measurement of C alpha-C', C beta-C', and C gamma-C' internuclear distances in powder samples of the amino acids L-alanine and L-threonine.     

Magnetic field induced dipolar couplings in the pretransitional region of a nematic liquid crystal

13C and 1H NMR spectroscopy have been used to study the orientational order which develops when a nematogenic compound, 4-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (5CB), approaches the transition from the isotropic to the nematic phase at T(NI). The experiments yield values of field induced dipolar couplings, (1), between all of the directly bonded carbon and hydrogen nuclei in the molecule, and 2D(HH)B, the geminal dipolar coupling between protons in the first methylene group in the alkyl chain. The temperature dependence of these couplings shows that in each case they follow a divergence behavior governed by (T - T*)(-1),where T* is a temperature determined from the experimental data and which is close to but less than T(NI). Experiments performed at spectrometer field strengths of 11.75 and 18.79 T confirm the prediction that the induced couplings should depend on the square of the applied field strength. It was found that, within experimental error, T* is the same for each field-induced coupling, and that T(NI) - T* is the same at 11.75 and 18.79 T. It is shown that the set of field-induced couplings 1D(CHi)B obtained at a temperature close to T(NI) can be used to derive a conformer distribution for 5CB in the isotropic phase.     

Unexpected effects of third-order cross-terms in heteronuclear spin systems under simultaneous radio-frequency irradiation and magic-angle spinning NMR

We recently noted [R. K. Harris, P. Hodgkinson, V. Zorin, J.-N. Dumez, B. Elena, L. Emsley, E. Salager, and R. Stein, Magn. Reson. Chem. 48, S103 (2010)] anomalous shifts in apparent (1)H chemical shifts in experiments using (1)H homonuclear decoupling sequences to acquire high-resolution (1)H NMR spectra for organic solids under magic-angle spinning (MAS). Analogous effects were also observed in numerical simulations of model (13)C,(1)H spin systems under homonuclear decoupling and involving large (13)C,(1)H dipolar couplings. While the heteronuclear coupling is generally assumed to be efficiently suppressed by sample spinning at the magic angle, we show that under conditions typically used in solid-state NMR, there is a significant third-order cross-term from this coupling under the conditions of simultaneous MAS and homonuclear decoupling for spins directly bonded to (1)H. This term, which is of the order of 100 Hz under typical conditions, explains the anomalous behaviour observed on both (1)H and (13)C spins, including the fast dephasing observed in (13)C{(1)H} heteronuclear spin-echo experiments under (1)H homonuclear decoupling. Strategies for minimising the impact of this effect are also discussed.     

Density functional theory calculations of hydrogen-bond-mediated NMR J coupling in the solid state

A recently developed method for calculating NMR J coupling in solid-state systems is applied to calculate hydrogen-bond-mediated (2h) J NN couplings across intra- or intermolecular N-H...N hydrogen bonds in two 6-aminofulvene-1-aldimine derivatives and the ribbon structure formed by a deoxyguanosine derivative. Excellent quantitative agreement is observed between the calculated solid-state J couplings and those previously determined experimentally in two recent spin-echo magic-angle-spinning NMR studies ( Brown, S. P. ; et al. Chem. Commun. 2002, 1852-1853 and Pham, T. N. ; et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2007, 9, 3416-3423 ). For the 6-aminofulvene-1-aldimines, the differences in (2h) J NN couplings in pyrrole and triazole derivatives are reproduced, while for the guanosine ribbons, an increase in (2h) J NN is correlated with a decrease in the N-H...N hydrogen-bond distance. J couplings are additionally calculated for isolated molecules of the 6-aminofulevene-1-aldimines extracted from the crystal with and without further geometry optimization. Importantly, it is shown that experimentally observed differences between J couplings determined by solution- and solid-state NMR are not solely due to differences in geometry; long-range electrostatic effects of the crystal lattice are shown to be significant also. J couplings that are yet to be experimentally measured are calculated. Notably, (2h) J NO couplings across N-H...O hydrogen bonds are found to be of a similar magnitude to (2h) J NN couplings, suggesting that their utilization and quantitative determination should be experimentally feasible.     

Spin selective multiple quantum NMR for spectral simplification, determination of relative signs, and magnitudes of scalar couplings by spin state selection

In the present work we demonstrate a novel method for spectral simplification and determination of the relative signs of the scalar couplings using a spin selective multiple quantum NMR experiment. A spin selective excitation of double quantum coherence of A and M spins in a weakly coupled three spin system of the type AMX, results in a doublet in the double quantum dimension whose separation corresponds to the sum of couplings of the active spins to the passive spin X. One component of the doublet has the passive spin X in mid R:alpha state while the other component has the passive spin X in mid R:beta state. The spin selective conversion of double quantum coherence to single quantum coherence does not disturb the spin states of the passive spin thereby providing the spin state selection. There will be two domains of single quantum transitions in single quantum dimension at the chemical shift positions of A and M spins. The mid R:alpha domain of A spin is a doublet because of mid R:alpha and mid R:beta states of M spin only, while that of mid R:beta domain is another doublet in a different cross section of the spectra. The scalar coupling J(AM) can be extracted from any of the mid R:alpha and mid R:beta domain transitions while the relative displacements of the two doublets between the two domains at the two chemical shifts provides the magnitude and sign of the scalar coupling J(AX) relative to the coupling J(MX). Similar result is obtained for zero quantum studies on AMX spin system. The proposed technique is discussed theoretically using product operator approach. The new spin state selective double quantum J-resolved sequence has also been developed. The methodology is confirmed experimentally on a homonuclear weakly coupled three spin system and applied to two different heteronuclear five spin systems.     

应用相敏HMQC和HSQC谱准确测定异核碳-氢偶合常数

准确测定各种同核和异核偶合常数是核磁共振（NMR）方法研究的一个非常跃的领域。首先,各种三键偶合常数通过Karplus关系式^[1]反映了相应二面角的大小,因此,多键偶合常数的准确测定直接影响分子结构确定的精确性。其次,由于稀液晶溶剂体系NMR方法的发展^[2],准确测定各种异核键偶合常数也显得非常重要,特别是应用场相关偶合常数研究分子在磁场中的取向时,对异核－键偶合常数测定的准确性要求更加严格^[3]。异核－键偶合常数的最准确的测定方法是异核偶合调制的HSQC（Heteronuclear Single-Quantum Coherence)实验^[3],它通过测定一系列异核耦合调制的二维HSQC谱,对交叉峰的强度进行分析来精确确定相应的异核－键偶合常数。这一方法的缺点是比较费时。作者在异核多键偶合常数的准确测定方面也做了一些有意义的工作^[4-6 α]。在前文^[5]工作的基础上,本文提出了二维相敏HMQC（Heteronuclear Multiple-Quantum Coherence)和HSQC（Heteronuclear Single-Quantum Coherence)实验,用于准确测定异核－键偶合常数。