NMR Characterisation of Macromolecules in Solution

SdtoolcfChemstry. The Queen s UniversUy of Belfast, Be ast BT95AG. Northern Ireland, UK 

The NMR method of st udying the microstructuie of macromolecules is the most effective available, provided that the materials can be obtained in solution. The method is now routinely employed to characterise and to identify the structures present in polymers, both those in common use and those created by the chemist when working with new monomers or new catalyst systems [1-6]. Derivatives of polymers and reactions on polymers are similariy accessible to study. The NMR parameter that is sensitive to these structural issues is the chemical shift, commonly measured in ppm from an internal reference. It senses readily information on the framework of the polymer—its connectivity—by providing information on the number and type of atoms linked to each particular nucleus, and also senses such factors as the relative chirality of pairs of such centres and cis/trans isomerism within double bonds. 

Polymer Spectroicopy. Edited by Allan H. Fawcett 1996 John WUey A Sons Ltd 

Just as important as these developments in magnet design has been the introduction of pulsed Fourier transform methods, for these permit the performance of new types of experiment by the computerised systems that control the production, acquisition and processing of the experimental data. New pulse sequences increasingly made available by instrument manufacturers within their software suites permit the routine performance of these new experiments an early example is the distortionless enhancement polarisation transfer, or DEPT, experiment to identify the number of protons attached to a carbon by controlling the final 

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