Skip to main content

Principles of NMR Spectroscopy: An Illustrated Guide

David P. Goldenberg University of Utah

With nearly 400 original illustrations, this NMR primer provides an introduction to solution NMR spectroscopy at a level appropriate for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and working scientists with backgrounds in chemistry or biochemistry. It presents the underlying physics and mathematics in a way that is both accessible and sufficiently complete to allow a real understanding of modern multi-dimensional experiments, thereby giving readers the tools they need to move to more advanced textbooks and articles.

Print Book, ISBN 978-1-891389-88-7, US $94
eBook, eISBN 978-1-938787-86-7, US $74
Copyright 2016
682 pages, Softbound

Summary

With nearly 400 original illustrations, this NMR primer provides an introduction to solution NMR spectroscopy at a level appropriate for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and working scientists with backgrounds in chemistry or biochemistry. It presents the underlying physics and mathematics in a way that is both accessible and sufficiently complete to allow a real understanding of modern multi-dimensional experiments, thereby giving readers the tools they need to move to more advanced textbooks and articles.  

One special feature of this text is a thorough, but accessible, treatment of spin quantum mechanics, including scalar-coupled spins. A novel style of vector diagram is used to represent the quantum correlations between coupled spins and the manipulation of these correlations by pulses and time evolution. This will help to clarify what is arguably the most difficult aspect of NMR for students and practitioners to master.

Key Features:

  • Hundreds of original illustrations show both traditional and non-traditional vector diagrams, that describe the correlations between scalar-coupled spins.  The non-traditional vector diagrams are a unique highlight of this text, and are used to illustrate experiments based on scalar coupling and as an aid to product-operator calculations.
  • Numerical simulations are used to illustrate many important ideas, including standard data processing techniques and the random processes associated with NMR relaxation.
  • Important mathematical concepts and techniques, such as complex numbers and the Fourier transformation, are introduced where they are required in the text.
  • Each chapter includes chapter-ending problems and exercises as well as a summary of major points and references for further reading.

Resources

List of Adoptions
Authors Website

Table of Contents

An overview of modern solution NMR

An introduction to spin and nuclear magnetism

Early NMR experiments

Chemical information from resonance frequencies

The pulse NMR methods: The pulse

The pulse NMR method: The signal and spectrum

Relaxation

A more mathematical look at relaxation

Cross relaxation and the nuclear Overhauser effect

Two-dimensional NMR experiments

The mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics

More quantum mechanics: Time and energy

Quantum description of a scalar-coupled spin pair

NMR spectroscopy of a weakly-coupled spin pair

Two-dimensional spectra based on scalar coupling

Heteronuclear NMR techniques

Introduction to the density matrix

The product-operator formalism

Appendix A: List of symbols, numerical constants and abbreviations
Appendix B: Trigonometric functions and complex numbers
Appendix C: Fourier series and transforms
Appendix D: Vectors and matrices
Appendix E: Mathematics for uncoupled spin-1/2 particles
Appendix F: Mathematics of the two-spin system
Index


Contents, Detailed

Reviews

“The Goldenberg book is ideal for upper division undergraduate students with majors in Chemistry, Biology and related areas. It instills an intuitive picture of NMR without sacrificing rigor when needed.”
-Frederick W. Dahlquist, University of California Santa Barbara

“A very valuable reference for anyone involved in NMR spectroscopy, including the serious newcomer who wants to learn the field and the seasoned expert looking for a fresh view of fundamental ideas.”
-Lawrence McIntosh, University of British Columbia

“Clear and accessible, Goldenberg’s book is written in an engaging style such that you feel more like you’re reading a story than being taught a discipline. I particularly enjoyed his approach of interweaving the classic experiments and quantum mechanics, which is maintained throughout the book.”
-Russell Hopson, Brown University

David P. Goldenberg

David P. Goldenberg University of Utah

David P. Goldenberg is a Professor of Biology at the University of Utah, where he teaches and researches subjects in the general areas of biochemistry and biophysics, especially protein folding, dynamics and function. He received an A.B. degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from Whitman College in 1976 and a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. Before moving to the University of Utah, he was a post-doctoral associate at the Medical Research Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in Cambridge, England.

View Profile