Chemical shielding & chemical shift Flashcards
Symbol for chemical shift
delta
How is the chemical shift of a nuclear environment defined?
With respect to the nuclei in a reference compound, whose chemical shift is usually given a value of 0
Calculating chemical shift
(vL-vLref)/vSpec (in Hz) x 10^6
or (vL-vLref)/vSpec (in MHz)
where vL = resonant frequency
Gives a value in ppm
Deshielded nuclei
High frequency
High ppm
Downfield/low field
Shielded nuclei
Low frequency
Low ppm
Upfield/high field
What does the resonant frequency (vL) of a nucleus depend on?
The magnetic field the nucleus experiences
What affects the magnetic field experienced by a nucleus?
The chemical/electronic environment around the nucleus
i.e. besides the applied field B0, the nuclei in a sample also experience additional magnetic fields set up by the electrons in the sample as they move within molecular orbitals
Beff =
B0 - b0
Where B0 = applied (external) magnetic field and b0 = the magnetic field generated by the surrounding electrons
Why does each nucleus resonate at a different frequency?
Because each nucleus is in a different chemical environment
vL = yBeff/2pi
Where Beff = B0(1-sigma)
Sigma
Shielding constant
Can be described as the summation of many terms
Diamagnetic shielding term (sigmadia)
Electrons in s-orbitals surrounding the nucleus circulate, which produces a second magnetic field at the nucleus that opposes the applied field
The nucleus is therefore shielded from the spectrometer field so resonates upfield
This term dominates 1H chemical shifts
Why are variations in the diamagnetic shielding term only of relevance for 1H, 6Li and 7Li?
Because this term only uses spherical electron distribution (mainly s-orbitals) - it arises from the core electrons
For heavier nuclei, sigmadia contributes a constant value
Paramagnetic shielding term (sigmapara)
The circulation of electrons between the ground and excited states of p-orbitals induced by the external magnetic field gives rise to local magnetic fields that support the spectrometer field
The nucleus therefore experiences a larger net field and is deshielded from the spectrometer field, therefore resonates downfield
The paramagnetic shielding term is proportional to
DeltaE^-1
DeltaE = the electronic excitation energy (i.e. the energy spacing between ground and excited states)
Why is the paramagnetic shielding term small for 1H?
For 1H, DeltaE is large, therefore DeltaE^-1 is small, therefore sigmapara is small
When does sigmapara begin to dominate over sigmadia?
For heavier nuclei in molecules with low lying electronically excited states
e.g. 31P, 195Pt
Normal chemical shift range for 1H
+20 to -20 ppm
Normal chemical shift range for 11B
+100 to -100 ppm
Normal chemical shift range for 205Tl
5500 ppm range
Why is the chemical shift range larger for heavier/larger nuclei?
Heavier/larger nuclei have more electrons so have larger values for their paramagnetic shielding terms