Theoretical formalism and experimental verification of line shapes of NMR intermolecular multiple-quantum coherence spectra

Although the theories and potential applications of intermolecular multiple-quantum coherences (iMQCs) have been under active investigations for over a decade, discussion of iMQC NMR signal formation was mainly confined in the time domain. In this paper, a full line-shape theory was developed to describe iMQC signals in the frequency domain. Relevant features of the line shape, such as peak height, linewidth, and phase, were investigated in detail. Predictions based on the theory agree well with experimental and simulated results. Since radiation-damping effects always couple with iMQCs in highly polarized liquid-state NMR systems, and strongly radiation-damped signals have many spectral characteristics similar to those of iMQCs, a detailed comparison was also made between them from different spectral aspects. With detailed comparison of peak height, linewidth, and phase, this work demonstrates that the iMQC and radiation-damping phenomena result from two completely different physical mechanisms despite that both present similar signal features and coexist in highly polarized liquid-state NMR systems.