Spin-Echo Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies of Fast Chemical Reactions

Abstract

Since the original work of Gutowsky et al.⁽¹⁾ in 1953, high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance has developed into a useful tool for studying fast chemical reactions in liquids. These reactions occur in systems at dynamic equilibrium and involve rapid, reversible transfer of nuclear spins between magnetically nonequivalent environments. For example, intermolecular hydroxyl proton transfer in ethanol,⁽²⁾ ring inversion in cyclohexane,⁽³⁾ and hindered internal rotation in N,N-dimethylacetamidet⁽⁴⁾ have all been studied by high-resolution NMR methods. Useful reviews of such studies have been made by Lowenstein and Connor⁽⁵⁾ and by Johnson.⁽⁶⁾