uclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is extremely useful for identification and analysis of organic compounds. The principle on which this form of spectroscopy is based is simple. The nuclei of many kinds of atoms act like tiny magnets and tend to become aligned in a magnetic field. In NMR spectroscopy, we measure the energy required to change the alignment of magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field.
In Chapter 12, you learned how an organic chemist could use two spectroscopic techniques, mass spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy, to assist in determining the structure of an unknown compound. This chapter introduces a third technique, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The two most common forms of NMR spectroscopy, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR, will be discussed, the former in much more detail than the latter.