Dipolar and Scalar Couplings in Solid State NMR of Quadrupolar Nuclei

Summary.  Most NMR-active nuclei found in the periodic table have a quadrupole moment. In combination with a nonsymmetric electron distribution a strong NMR-active interaction results, which very often overshadows the dipolar and scalar couplings. This article aims at reviewing how these interactions manifest themselves in quadrupolar NMR and how they can be exploited for resonance assignment and structure elucidation, in spite of the presence of a strong quadrupolar interaction. E-mail: alexej.jerschow@nyu.edu Received April 16, 2002; accepted May 15, 2002