Carbon-13 NMR Spectroscopy

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of C nuclei have, until very recently, constituted a rather specialized area of NMR spectroscopy. Although successful observations of C spectra were reported as early as 1957, C investigations were carried out in relatively few laboratories, until a year or two ago, because of practical difficulties. The rapid technological advances through the 1960's have, to a large extent, overcome the major problems associated with the direct detection of C resonance signals, and spectra can now be determined in essentially routine fashion. In spite of the difficulties, however, an impressive body of data has been accumulated over the past decade and a solid core of information on a variety of chemical systems is available. Consequently, the potential of C techniques is just beginning to be exploited. There is little doubt that further developments and applications of C spectroscopy will proceed at a rapidly increasing rate in the next few years. This monograph has been written with the notion that this is an appropriate time to bring the available results together in an attempt to present an overall picture of the current state of progress. Even with the somewhat limited information it is certain that C spectroscopy offers exciting possibilities in several branches of chemical research. It is hoped that this presentation will confirm that C techniques can provide a powerful complement to the more familiar NMR methods.