Ultrafast 2D NMR

Abstract

While most fast 2D NMR strategies rely on short recycling delay or on the sparse sampling of the indirect dimension, ultrafast 2D NMR represents a change of paradigm by carrying out a spatial encoding of the resonance frequencies whereby spins located at different positions undergo distinct evolution periods within the same transient. Once the subsequent encoded signals are read out through gradient-based methods inspired from magnetic resonance imaging techniques, a whole 2D NMR spectrum is obtained in a single scan. This sub-second approach is in principle compatible with any homo- or heteronuclear experiment, making it a versatile tool whose analytical potential has been highlighted in various fields of application. This chapter endeavours to review the main concepts and features of ultrafast 2D NMR. This encompasses spatial encoding methods, detection techniques to read out encoded signals, data processing as well as combined methods. Characteristics and limitations are also discussed along with the improvements that have been developed to push forward the analytical performance of this ultrafast approach.