page_title: Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
section_title: Basic NMR techniques
hierarchical_section_title: Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy / Basic NMR techniques
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture taken by User:Kjaergaard. A NMR tube with a protein sample.
context_page_description: Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy, is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic field and the NMR signal is produced by excitation of the nuclei sample with radio waves into nuclear magnetic resonance, which is detected with sensitive radio receivers. The intramolecular magnetic field around an atom in a molecule changes the resonance frequency, thus giving access to details of the electronic structure of a molecule and its individual functional groups. As the fields are unique or highly characteristic to individual compounds, in modern organic chemistry practice, NMR spectroscopy is the definitive method to identify monomolecular organic compounds. Similarly, biochemists use NMR to identify proteins and other complex molecules. Besides identification, NMR spectroscopy provides detailed information about the structure, dynamics, reaction state, and chemical environment of molecules.
caption: The NMR sample is prepared in a thin-walled glass tube - an NMR tube.
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