The characterisation of networks of coupled spins by coherence transfer in nuclear magnetic resonance

The assignment of NMR spectra of complex systems,such as proton or carbon-13 spectra of macromolecules, can be greatly facilitated by exploiting the phenomenon of coherence transfer. The topology of the spin systems, i.e. the number of spins and their connectivities through scalar or dipolar couplings, can be probed by suitably tailored sequences of radio-frequency pulses, and mapped by two-dimensional Fourier transform methods. The interpretation of the resulting spectra can be facilitated by computer-aided pattern recognition methods.