NMR Acquisition in Reaction Monitoring Stopped- and Continuous-flow

NMR Acquisition in Reaction Monitoring Stopped- and Continuous-flow 

The alternative method is continuous-flow , in which the reactants flow through the detection coil during data acquisition. Continuous-flow NMR techniques have been used for the direct observation of short-lived species in chemical reactions [4—6]. The main difference between stopped- and continuous-flow NMR is that in the latter the sample remains inside the detection coil only for a short time period, termed the residence time, x [7], which is determined by the volume of the detection cell and the flow rate. The residence time alters the effective relaxation times according to the relationship in Eq. (2.5.1)  

It is also clear from Eq. (2.5.1) that the linewidth of the observed NMR resonance, limited by 1/T2, is significantly broadened at high flow rates. The NMR line not only broadens as the flow rate increases, but its intrinsic shape also changes. Whereas for stopped-flow the line shape is ideally a pure Lorentzian, as the flow rate increases the line shape is best described by a Voigt function, defined as the convolution of Gaussian and Lorentzian functions. Quantitative NMR measurements under flow conditions must take into account these line shape modifications. 

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