Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (Oxford Chemistry Primers, 32)

Rating:
Summary: Non-mathematical intro to the basics
Review: This is the best introduction I've seen. It's clear and intuitive, but covers all the basics:
-- chemical shifts for a variety of binding structures,
-- the various isotopes,
-- line-splitting and spin coupling,
-- equilibria in chemical and physical state,
-- Overhauser effect,
and lots more. In other words, it covers everything needed for more advanced analyses, but does it without dragging the reader through every wave function. Somehow, the author packs all that into fewer than 90 pages without making it all indigestibly dense.

To get the book's full benefit, you'll need some background in chemistry, including a little organic, and maybe some physics. You won't need a lot of either - the first or second college course in each should be enough. The treatment uses a little algebra, but not a lot in the direct line of its arguments. The real emphasis is on the basic phenomena: on the concepts of electron shielding, on effects of different kinds of bonding, and on interactions between magnetic nuclei.

This book won't make you an analytic chemist. It could help, though. The text is well-suited for a prepared novice. It's illustrated with simple and descriptive diagrams. If you need to get the basic ideas of analytic NMR, fast, this book may be the best around. Other books cover advanced topics like NMR for protein structure. Read this book first, like an introductory chapter, and you'll have a much easier time with those more complex discussions.

This much information at this price is an incredible deal - it has my highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Non-mathematical intro to the basics
Review: This is the best introduction I've seen. It's clear and intuitive, but covers all the basics:
-- chemical shifts for a variety of binding structures,
-- the various isotopes,
-- line-splitting and spin coupling,
-- equilibria in chemical and physical state,
-- Overhauser effect,
and lots more. In other words, it covers everything needed for more advanced analyses, but does it without dragging the reader through every wave function. Somehow, the author packs all that into fewer than 90 pages without making it all indigestibly dense.

To get the book's full benefit, you'll need some background in chemistry, including a little organic, and maybe some physics. You won't need a lot of either - the first or second college course in each should be enough. The treatment uses a little algebra, but not a lot in the direct line of its arguments. The real emphasis is on the basic phenomena: on the concepts of electron shielding, on effects of different kinds of bonding, and on interactions between magnetic nuclei.

This book won't make you an analytic chemist. It could help, though. The text is well-suited for a prepared novice. It's illustrated with simple and descriptive diagrams. If you need to get the basic ideas of analytic NMR, fast, this book may be the best around. Other books cover advanced topics like NMR for protein structure. Read this book first, like an introductory chapter, and you'll have a much easier time with those more complex discussions.

This much information at this price is an incredible deal - it has my highest recommendation.