Selective COSY‐J‐resolved‐HMBC,a new method for improving sensitivity of cross peaks of methine proton signals attached to a methyl group

Improved pulse sequences for measuring long‐range C‐H coupling constants (ⁿJ_C‐H), named selective COSY‐J‐resolved HMBC‐1 and ?2, have been developed. In the spin systems, such as ‐CH_C‐CH_A(CH₃)‐CH_B‐, a methine proton H_A splits into a multiplet owing to several vicinal couplings with protons, resulting in attenuation of its cross‐peak intensity. Therefore, the measurements of ⁿJ_C‐H with H_A are generally difficult in the J‐resolved HMBC or selective J‐resolved HMBC spectrum. With the aim of accurate measurements of ⁿJ_C‐H in such a spin system, we have developed new pulse sequences, which transfer the magnetization of a methyl group to its adjacent methine proton. The proposed pulse sequences successfully enable to enhance the sensitivity of H_A cross peak in comparison with the selective J‐resolved HMBC pulse sequence. Copyright © 2012 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.     

Current developments in homonuclear and heteronuclear J‐resolved NMR experiments

Two‐dimensional J‐resolved (Jres) NMR experiments offer a simple, user‐friendly spectral representation where the information of coupling constants and chemical shifts are separated into two orthogonal frequency axis. Since its initial proposal 40 years ago, Jres has been the focus of considerable interest both in improving the basic pulse sequence and in its successful application to a wide range of studies. Here, the latest developments in the design of novel Jres pulse schemes are reviewed, mainly focusing on obtaining pure absorption lineshapes, minimizing strong coupling artifacts, and also optimizing sensitivity and experimental measurements. A discussion of several Jres versions for the accurate measurement of a different number of homonuclear (J_HH) and heteronuclear (J_CH) coupling constants is presented, accompanied by some illustrative examples.     

Theoretical study of a simple rotational‐echo double‐resonance NMR for homonuclear spin‐1/2 pairs

We investigate theoretically intriguing aspects of a simple rotational‐echo double‐resonance (REDOR) NMR technique for homonuclear spin‐1/2 pairs undergoing MAS. The simple technique sets Gaussian soft π pulses at every half MAS rotational period in the pulse sequence. The reduction in rotational echo amplitude (the REDOR echo reduction) is observed at the end of the evolution period t_e = (n + 1)T_r, where T_r is a MAS rotational period. The exact average Hamiltonians for the homonuclear REDOR (hm‐REDOR) technique are calculated by dividing the evolution period into four periods. We show theoretically and experimentally that the hm‐REDOR technique produces the REDOR echo reductions for homonuclear spin‐1/2 pairs. In addition, the theoretical results reveal that the REDOR echo reductions are independent of the chemical‐shift difference, δ, under a simple condition of κ = δ/ω_r ≥ 6 and t_e < 10 ? (1/d′), where ω_r is the sample spinning frequency and d′ is the dipolar coupling constant expressed in Hz. We call this simple condition the master condition. This means that the REDOR echo reductions for a homonuclear spin‐1/2 pair can be calculated under the master condition by considering only d′ and ω_r, which is the case for a heteronuclear spin pair. Finally, we demonstrate that four‐phase cycling yields the multiple‐quantum filtered hm‐REDOR experiment, where the appearance of the REDOR echo reductions shows that the echo reductions are definitely attributable to the homonuclear dipolar interaction even if there is a slight unwanted effect from the recovered chemical‐shift anisotropy in these reductions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selective J‐resolved‐HMQC‐1 and ‐2, new methods for measuring proton–proton coupling constants in strongly coupled spin systems

Efficient pulse sequences for measuring ¹H–¹H coupling constants (J_HH) in strongly coupled spin systems, named selective J‐resolved‐HMQC‐1 and ‐2, have been developed. In the strongly coupled spin systems such as ‐CH₂‐CH_A(OH)‐CH_B(OH)‐CH₂‐, measurements of ³J_HAHB are generally difficult owing to the complicated splitting caused by the adjacent CH₂ protons. For easier and accurate measurements of ³J_HAHB in such a spin system, a selective excitation pulse is incorporated into the J‐resolved HMQC pulse sequence. In the proposed methods, only two strongly coupled protons, H_A and H_B which are excited by a selective pulse, are observed as J‐resolved HMQC signals. The cross peaks of H_A and H_B appear as doublets owing to ³J_HAHB along the F₁ dimension in the selective J‐resolved HMQC‐1 and ‐2 experiments. The efficiency of the proposed pulse sequences has been demonstrated in application to the stereochemical studies of the complicated natural product, monazomycin. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

BASHD‐J‐resolved‐HMBC,an efficient method for measuring proton–proton and heteronuclear long‐range coupling constants

Natural products often possess various spin systems consisting of a methine group directly bonded to a methyl group (e.g. –CH_a–CH_b(CH₃)–CH_c–). The methine proton H_b splits into a broadened multiplet by coupling with several vicinal protons, rendering analysis difficult of ⁿJ_C–H with respect to H_b in the J‐resolved HMBC‐1. In purpose of the reliable and easy measurements of ⁿJ_C–H and ⁿJ_H–H in the aforesaid spin system, we have developed a new technique, named BASHD‐J‐resolved‐HMBC. This method incorporates band selective homo decoupled pulse and J‐scaling pulse into HMBC. In this method, high resolution cross peaks can be observed along the F₁ axis by J‐scaling pulse, and band selective homo decoupled pulse simplified multiplet signals. Determinations of ⁿJ_C–H and ⁿJ_H–H of multiplet signals can easily be performed using the proposed pulse sequence. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High resolution‐HMBC (HR‐HMBC), a new method for measuring heteronuclear long‐range coupling constants

A useful pulse sequence for measuring long‐range C? H coupling constants (J_{C? H}) named high resolution‐HMBC (HR‐HMBC) has been developed. In this pulse sequence, the J‐scaling pulse [(nt₁)/2? 180° (H/C) ? (nt₁)/2] is incorporated after the spin evolution period, and then followed by an ¹H 180° pulse to reverse the magnetization of J_{C? H} couplings. As a result, splittings of the cross peaks due to the long‐range J_{C? H} are realigned with separations of nJ_{C? H} along the F₁ dimension, and thus even the small long‐range J_{C? H} values can easily be determined. The efficiency of measuring the long‐range J_{C? H} using the proposed pulse sequences has been demonstrated in application to the complicated natural product, portmicin. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

BASHD‐J‐resolved‐COSY: a new method for measuring proton‐proton spin coupling constants of multiplet signals

An effective pulse sequence for measuring H–H coupling constants, named BASHD‐J‐resolved‐COSY, has been developed. In the spin systems such as –CH_A–CH_B(CH₃)–CH_C–, a methine proton H_B splits into a multiplet owing to several vicinal couplings, resulting in attenuation of its cross‐peak intensity. Therefore, the measurements of ³J_H–H with respect to H_B are generally difficult in the E‐COSY‐type experiments. With the aim of accurate measurements of ³J_H‐H in such a spin system, we have developed a new pulse sequence, which selectively decouples the secondary methyl group. The proposed pulse sequence provides the simplified cross‐peak patterns, which are suitable for reliable measurements of ³J_H‐H in a complicated natural product. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observation of potentially troublesome 2JCC correlations in 1,1‐ADEQUATE spectra

Despite the tremendous usage of HMBC to establish long‐range ¹H–¹³C and ¹H–¹⁵N heteronuclear correlations, an inherent drawback of the experiment is the indeterminate nature of the ⁿJ_XH correlations afforded by the experiment. A priori there is no reliable way of determining whether a given ⁿJ_CH correlation is, for example, via two‐, three‐, or sometimes even four‐bonds. This limitation of the HMBC experiment spurred the development of the ADEQUATE family of NMR experiments that rely on, in the case of 1,1‐ADEQUATE, an out‐and‐back transfer of magnetization via the ¹J_CC homonuclear coupling constant, which is significantly larger than ⁿJ_CC (where n = 2–4) couplings in most cases. Hence, the 1,1‐ADEQUATE experiment has generally been assumed to unequivocally provide the equivalent of ²J_CH correlations. The recent development of the 1,1‐ and 1,n‐HD‐ADEQUATE experiments that can provide homodecoupling for certain ¹J_CC and ⁿJ_CC correlations has increased the sensitivity of the ADEQUATE experiments significantly and can allow acquisition of these data in a fraction of the time required for the original iterations of this pulse sequence. With these gains in sensitivity, however, there occasionally come unanticipated consequences. We have observed that the collapse of proton multiplets, in addition to providing better s/n for the desired ¹J_CC correlations can facilitate the observation of typically weaker ²J_CC correlations across intervening carbonyl resonances in 1,1‐HD‐ADEQUATE spectra. Several examples are shown, with the results supported by the measurement of the ²J_CC coupling constants in question using J‐modulated‐HD‐ADEQUATE and DFT calculations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the interference of J(HH) modulation in HSQMBC‐IPAP and HMBC‐IPAP experiments

The effects of phase modulation due to homonuclear proton–proton coupling constants in HSQMBC‐IPAP and HMBC‐IPAP experiments are experimentally evaluated. We show that accurate values of small proton–carbon coupling constants, ⁿJ_CH, can be extracted even for phase‐distorted cross‐peaks obtained from a selHSQMBC experiment applied simultaneously on two mutually J‐coupled protons. On the other hand, an assessment of the reliability of ⁿJ_CH measurement from distorted cross‐peaks obtained in broadband IPAP versions of equivalent HMBC and HSQMBC experiments is also presented. Finally, we show that HMBC‐COSY experiments could be an excellent complement to HMBC for the measurement of small ⁿJ_CH values. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New Experimental Insight into the Nature of Metal−Metal Bonds in Digallium Compounds: J Coupling between Quadrupolar Nuclei

Multiple bonding between atoms is of ongoing fundamental and applied interest. Here, we report a multinuclear (¹H, ¹³C, and ⁷¹Ga) solid‐state magnetic resonance spectroscopic study of digallium compounds which have been proposed, albeit somewhat controversially, to contain single, double, and triple Ga?Ga bonds. Of particular relevance to the nature of these bonds, we have carried out two‐dimensional ⁷¹Ga J/D‐resolved NMR experiments which provide a direct measurement of J(⁷¹Ga,⁷¹Ga) spin–spin coupling constants across the gallium?gallium bonds. When placed in the context of clear‐cut experimental data for analogous singly, doubly, and triply bonded carbon spin pairs or boron spin pairs, the ⁷¹Ga NMR data clearly support the notion of a different bonding paradigm in the gallium systems. Our findings are consistent with an increasing role across the purported gallane–gallene–gallyne series for classical and/or slipped π‐type bonding orbitals.     

Suppressing one‐bond homonuclear 13C,13C scalar couplings in the J‐HMBC NMR experiment: application to 13C site‐specifically labeled oligosaccharides

Site‐specific ¹³C isotope labeling is a useful approach that allows for the measurement of homonuclear ¹³C,¹³C coupling constants. For three site‐specifically labeled oligosaccharides, it is demonstrated that using the J‐HMBC experiment for measuring heteronuclear long‐range coupling constants is problematical for the carbons adjacent to the spin label. By incorporating either a selective inversion pulse or a constant‐time element in the pulse sequence, the interference from one‐bond ¹³C,¹³C scalar couplings is suppressed, allowing the coupling constants of interest to be measured without complications. Experimental spectra are compared with spectra of a nonlabeled compound as well as with simulated spectra. The work extends the use of the J‐HMBC experiments to site‐specifically labeled molecules, thereby increasing the number of coupling constants that can be obtained from a single preparation of a molecule. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selective J‐resolved HMBC,an efficient method for measuring heteronuclear long‐range coupling constants

An efficient pulse sequence for measuring long‐range C? H coupling constants (J_{C? H}) named selective J‐resolved HMBC has been developed by replacing a ¹H 180° pulse with a selective ¹H 180° pulse and the HMBC pulse scheme with the constant time (CT) HMBC employed in the J‐resolved HMBC pulse sequence that we reported previously. The novel pulse sequence providing only long‐range J_{C? H} cross peaks for easy and accurate analysis enables to overcome disadvantages of the previous HMBC‐based pulse sequences (J‐resolved HMBC‐1) along with maintaining high sensitivity. The efficiency of measuring long‐range J_{C? H} using the proposed pulse sequence has been demonstrated in applications to the complicated natural products, portmicin and monazomycin. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HMBC‐1,1‐ADEQUATE via generalized indirect covariance: a high sensitivity alternative to n,1‐ADEQUATE

1,1‐ADEQUATE and the related long‐range 1,n‐ and n,1‐ADEQUATE variants were developed to provide an unequivocal means of establishing ²J_CH and the equivalent of ⁿJ_CH correlations where n = 3,4. Whereas the 1,1‐ and 1,n‐ADEQUATE experiments have two simultaneous evolution periods that refocus the chemical shift and afford net single quantum evolution for the carbon spins, the n,1‐variant has a single evolution period that leaves the carbon spin to be observed at the double quantum frequency. The n,1‐ADEQUATE experiment begins with an HMBC‐type ⁿJ_CH magnetization transfer, which leads to inherently lower sensitivity than the 1,1‐ and 1,n‐ADEQUATE experiments that begin with a ¹J_CH transfer. These attributes, in tandem, serve to render the n,1‐ADEQUATE experiment less generally applicable and more difficult to interpret than the 1,n‐ADEQUATE experiment, which can in principle afford the same structural information. Unsymmetrical and generalized indirect covariance processing methods can complement and enhance the structural information encoded in combinations of experiments e.g. HSQC‐1,1‐ or ?1,n‐ADEQUATE. Another benefit is that covariance processing methods offer the possibility of mathematically combining a higher sensitivity 2D NMR spectrum with for example 1,1‐ or 1,n‐ADEQUATE to improve access to the information content of lower sensitivity congeners. The covariance spectrum also provides a significant enhancement in the F₁ digital resolution. The combination of HMBC and 1,1‐ADEQUATE spectra is shown here using strychnine as a model compound to derive structural information inherent to an n,1‐ADEQUATE spectrum with higher sensitivity and in a more convenient to interpret single quantum presentation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Full four‐component relativistic calculations of the one‐bond 77Se–13C spin‐spin coupling constants in the series of selenium heterocycles and their parent open‐chain selenides

Four‐component relativistic calculations of ⁷⁷Se–¹³C spin–spin coupling constants have been performed in the series of selenium heterocycles and their parent open‐chain selenides. It has been found that relativistic effects play an essential role in the selenium–carbon coupling mechanism and could result in a contribution of as much as 15–25% of the total values of the one‐bond selenium–carbon spin‐spin coupling constants. In the overall contribution of the relativistic effects to the total values of ¹J(Se,C), the scalar relativistic corrections (negative in sign) by far dominate over the spin‐orbit ones (positive in sign), the latter being of less than 5%, as compared to the former (ca 20%). A combination of nonrelativistic second‐order polarization propagator approach (CC2) with the four‐component relativistic density functional theory scheme is recommended as a versatile tool for the calculation of ¹J(Se,C). Solvent effects in the values of ¹J(Se,C) calculated within the polarizable continuum model for the solvents with different dielectric constants (ε 2.2–78.4) are next to negligible decreasing negative ¹J(Se,C) in absolute value by only about 1 Hz. The use of the locally dense basis set approach applied herewith for the calculation of ⁷⁷Se–¹³C spin‐spin coupling constants is fully justified resulting in a dramatic decrease in computational cost with only 0.1–0.2‐Hz loss of accuracy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding J‐Modulation during Spatial Encoding for Sensitivity‐Optimized Ultrafast NMR Spectroscopy

Ultrafast (UF) NMR spectroscopy is an approach that yields 2D spectra in a single scan. This methodology has become a powerful analytical tool that is used in a large array of applications. However, UF NMR spectroscopy still suffers from an intrinsic low sensitivity, and from the need to compromise between sensitivity, spectral width, and resolution. In particular, the modulation of signal intensities by the spin–spin J‐coupling interaction (J‐modulation) impacts significantly on the intensities of the spectral peaks. This effect can lead to large sensitivity losses and even to missing spectral peaks, depending on the nature of the spin system. Herein, a general simulation package (Spinach) is used to describe J‐modulation effects in UF experiments. The results from simulations match with experimental data and the results of product operator calculations. Several methods are proposed to optimize the sensitivity in UF COSY spectra. The potential and drawbacks of the different strategies are also discussed. These approaches provide a way to adjust the sensitivity of UF experiments for a large range of applications.     

Measurement of long‐range heteronuclear coupling constants using the peak intensity in classical 1D HMBC spectra

In this contribution, we show that the magnitude of heteronuclear long‐range coupling constants can be directly extracted from the classical 1D HMBC spectra, as all multiplet lines of a cross‐peak always and exclusively vanish for the condition Δ = k/ⁿJ_CH. To the best of our knowledge, this feature of the classical HMBC has not yet been noticed and exploited. This condition holds true, irrespective of the magnitude and numbers of additional active and passive homonuclear ⁿJ_HH′ couplings. Alternatively, the ⁿJ_CH value may also be evaluated by fitting the peak's intensity in the individual spectra to its simple sin(πⁿJ_CHΔ)exp(−Δ/T_2eff) dependence. Compared to the previously proposed J‐HMBC sequences that also use the variation of the cross‐peak's intensity for extracting the coupling constants, the classical HMBC pulse sequence is significantly more sensitive.     

Fluorine–proton correlation from isolated trifluoromethyl groups using unresolved J‐couplings

Fluorine‐containing compounds are rare in biological systems, so fluorine NMR spectroscopy can selectively detect and quantify fluorinated xenobiotics in crude biological extracts. The high sensitivity of fluorine NMR allows the detection of compounds containing isolated trifluoromethyl groups at nanogramme levels. However, it only provides limited structural information about trifluoromethyl‐containing compounds owing to the difficulty of interpreting fluorine chemical shifts and the low sensitivity of HOESY experiments used to correlate fluorine nuclei with protons in the same compound. This paper demonstrates that long‐range fluorine–proton J‐couplings can be used to correlate isolated trifluoromethyl groups with nearby protons with significantly higher sensitivity than HOESY. Fluorine‐observe fluorine–proton HMQC can even give correlations when the fluorine–proton J‐couplings are less than the observed fluorine resonance linewidth, so it provides a useful alternative source of structural information about fluorinated xenobiotics. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficient measurement of the sign and the magnitude of long‐range proton‐carbon coupling constants from a spin‐state‐selective HSQMBC‐COSY experiment

A spin state‐selective Heteronuclear Single‐Quantum Multiple‐Bond Connectivities (HSQMBC‐COSY) experiment is proposed to measure the sign and the magnitude of long‐range proton‐carbon coupling constants (ⁿJ(CH); n > 1) either for protonated or for non‐protonated carbons in small molecules. The simple substitution of the selective 180° ¹H pulse in the original selHSQMBC pulse scheme by a hard one allows the simultaneous evolution of both proton‐proton and proton‐carbon coupling constants during the refocusing period and enables a final COSY transfer between coupled protons. The successful implementation of the IPAP principle leads to separate mixed‐phase α/β cross‐peaks from which ⁿJ(CH) values can be easily measured by analyzing their relative frequency displacements in the detected dimension. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Real‐Time Band‐Selective Homonuclear Proton Decoupling for Improving Sensitivity and Resolution in Phase‐Sensitive J‐Resolved Spectroscopy

Real‐time band‐selective homonuclear ¹H decoupling during data acquisition of z‐filtered J‐resolved spectroscopy produces ¹H‐decoupled ¹H NMR spectra and leads to sensitivity enhancement and improved resolution, and thus aids the measurement of J couplings and residual dipolar couplings in crowded regions of ¹H NMR spectrum. High quality spectra from peptides, organic molecules, and also from enantiomers dissolved in weakly aligned chiral media are reported.