Coupling constants structure correlation

Application of NMR spectroscopy to heterocyclic chemistry has developed very rapidly during the past 15 years, and the technique is now used almost as routinely as H NMR spectroscopy. There are four main areas of application of interest to the heterocyclic chemist (i) elucidation of structure, where the method can be particularly valuable for complex natural products such as alkaloids and carbohydrate antibiotics (ii) stereochemical studies, especially conformational analysis of saturated heterocyclic systems (iii) the correlation of various theoretical aspects of structure and electronic distribution with chemical shifts, coupling constants and other NMR derived parameters and (iv) the unravelling of biosynthetic pathways to natural products, where, in contrast to related studies with " C-labelled precursors, stepwise degradation of the secondary metabolite is usually unnecessary. 

In homonuclear-shift-correlated experiments, the Ft domain corresponds to the nucleus under observation in heteronuclear-shift-correlated experiments. Ft relates to the unobserved or decoupled nucleus. It is therefore necessary to set the spectral width SW, after considering the ID spectrum of the nucleus corresponding to the Ft domain. In 2D /-resolved spectra, the value of SW depends on the magnitude of the coupling constants and the type of experiment. In both homonuclear and heteronuclear experiments, the size of the largest multiplet structure, in hertz, determines... 

Elucidation of the stereostructure - configuration and conformation - is the next step in structural analysis. Three main parameters are used to elucidate the stereochemistry. Scalar coupling constants (mainly vicinal couplings) provide informa-hon about dihedral bond angles within a structure. Another way to obtain this information is the use of cross-correlated relaxation (CCR), but this is rarely used for drug or drug-like molecules. 

Multinuclear NMR data have been recorded for molsidomine 12 and its metabolite SIN-1 13, confirming that both are closed ring structures and that the positive charge is accommodated at the N3 position <1996CHE1358>. The c C4-C5 coupling constants for selected 1,2,3-oxadiazoles lie between 69.4 and 89 Hz, but correlation of these values with measures of bond order and aromaticity is difficult due to substituent effects <2000MRC617, 2002JST269>. 

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