Introduction

NMR Spectroscopy

In this course, Dr Danny Allwood (Sheffield Hallam University) introduces the concept of NMR spectroscopy, a ubiquitous analytical tool used in all fields of chemistry to determine the structure of compounds. We start by: (i) investigating two types of NMR based on certain nuclei, 1H and 13C, and the sorts of information we can gather from NMR spectra of these nuclei; then (ii) learning about the different regions of a given NMR spectrum, understanding that certain environments and functional groups are likely to be found to be within a defined region of chemical space; (iii) and then beginning to understand why this happens; before (iv) moving onto the concept of integration, specifically with 1H spectra; and then (v) understanding how nuclei in adjacent environments affect each other’s peaks on a spectrum by a process known as coupling; before finally (vi) showing the NMR spectra of isomers, and realising their differences and understanding why this happens.

Introduction

In this mini-lecture, Dr Danny Allwood (Sheffield Hallam University) introduces the concept of NMR spectroscopy, a tool widely used in organic, inorganic and physical chemistry, and biochemistry. NMR spectroscopy can be used to analyse any spin-active nuclei, but here we focus on only two: 1H and 13C. We are given a brief overview of the different types of information we can gather from any NMR spectrum, including the number of environments, the state of an environment’s de/shielding, the ratio of nuclei in different environments, and where these are found relative to each other. This is carried out by looking at the chemical shift, integration values and coupling of their respective peaks on the NMR spectrum.