Residual Chemical Shift Anisotropy RCSA

In liquid-state NMR spectroscopy only the isotropic component of the chemical shift tensor is measurable. Upon ahgnment the situahon changes and the so-called zz-component of the chemical shift tensor includes anisotropic components. 

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Instead of measuring only the time-dependent dipolar interaction via NOE, it is also possible to determine dipolar couplings directly if the solute molecule is partially aligned in so-called alignment media. The most important resulting anisotropic parameters are RDCs, but residual quadrupolar couplings (RQCs), residual chemical shift anisotropy (RCSA) and pseudo-contact shifts (PCSs) can also be used for structure determination if applicable. 

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