| Summary: | The work described in this thesis was initiated in an attempt to overcome the limitations imposed upon NMR spectroscopy by magnetic field inhomogeneity in two specific areas: high resolution spectroscopy in isotropic liquids, and chemical shift resolved NMR imaging in isotropic liquids.
In both cases magnetic field inhomogeneity may degrade the resolution of spectra to such an extent that no useful information can be obtained from them. In high resolution NMR spectroscopy it is necessary to be able to extract accurately the parameters present within the spectrum such as chemical shifts, coupling constants and peak areas. In chemical shift resolved imaging experiments the requirements are less stringent; and it is only necessary that the resonances of different chemical species be resolved. However, even the less stringent requirements of NMR imaging are often difficult to meet as the sample volumes required are often several orders of magnitude larger than those required in conventional high resolution NMR spectroscopy.
The use of zero-quantum coherence has been investigated as a potential solution to the magnetic field inhomogeneity problem in both of these areas. Zero-quantum coherences are independent of magnetic field inhomogeneity and contain the parameters desired in both cases, though they are displayed in a way which differs from conventional NMR spectra.
In this thesis, existing zero-quantum coherence experiments have been evaluated for use with inhomogeneous magnetic fields, and, where necessary, adapted for this purpose. Several completely new experiments have been developed for producing broad-band decoupled zero-quantum coherence spectra and also for presenting coupling constants and chemical shifts in a manner which is as close to conventional NMR spectra as possible, hence facilitating ease of use. Zero-quantum coherence has been evaluated as a tool for identifying unknown compounds and also for identifying the components of complex mixtures by "signature" recognition.
Both decoupled and non-decoupled zero-quantum coherence experiments are adapted to provide imaging experiments which allow the separation of the images of different chemical species in inhomogeneous magnetic fields. The two-dimensional J-resolved experiment is also adapted for this purpose. === Science, Faculty of === Chemistry, Department of === Graduate
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