An approximate method of sideband intensity calculation in magic angle spinning NMR

A theory of sideband intensity is derived by expanding into a Taylor series the free induction decay observed under magic angle spinning (MAS). According to this procedure, the free induction decay signal is completely represented by a basis of irreducible tensors from rank zero to rank infinity. After averaging over all orientations, only the zero-order irreducible tensors contribute to the sideband intensities. Symmetry properties of the sidebands can be seen clearly in this expansion and an approximate formula up to ninth order is obtained by truncating the series. Sideband intensities can be calculated rapidly with this formula. The results agree satisfactorily with the exact sideband intensities obtained by numerical simulation if the ratio of the anisotropy to the spinning speed, ω₀δ/ω_r, is smaller than 3. The relationship of the sideband intensities with the moments of a MAS spectrum shows that the proposed method is an alternative to moment analysis when the spinning speed is not very slow. Anisotropic information about the chemical shift anisotropy interaction therefore can be extracted efficiently from experimental spectra by this approximate method.