K. Saalwächter, D. Reichert.
Magnetic Resonance: Polymer Applications of NMR.
In: Encyclodedia of Spectroscopy & Spectrometry, 2nd edition, vol. 3, pp. 2221-2236. Editors: J. Lindon, G. Tranter, D. Koppenaal. Elsevier, Oxford 2010.
Abstract
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful analytical method that permits the structural as well as the dynamic characterization of liquids as well as solids, and is therefore perfectly suited for the in-depth study of macromolecular systems. This article focuses on applications of NMR to synthetic polymers. High-resolution liquid- (melt-) or solution-state experiments mainly yield chemical information such as composition or stereochemical sequence, and experiments on intact polymeric solids, based on orientation-dependent (anisotropic) interactions, provide information on supramolecular structures such as chain packing and domain sizes on the nm scale, as well as molecular and chain dynamics over a vast dynamic range. The span of suitable experiments ranges from the acquisition of simple one-dimensional liquid-state ¹H spectra to multidimensional acquisition schemes requiring isotopic labeling, non-standard hardware, and data analysis by numerical simulation of the data. Most of the experiments described herein are nowadays fairly standard, and this article summarizes the most essential techniques covered in a vast body of literature on the topic.