Resumen de Using Esters To Introduce Paradigms of Spin–Spin Coupling

Kyle T. Smith, Christian S. Hamann

• Students analyzed a set of 34 carboxylic esters using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to examine paradigmatic examples of spin–spin coupling, a foundational concept used to determine molecular structure by NMR spectroscopy. The ester functional group provides excellent chemical shift dispersion so that students were able to analyze well-resolved peaks and to apply concepts of chemical shift, line shape, and integration to the analysis of molecular substructures. A laboratory activity combining molecular models, worksheets, and NMR data collection and analysis provided students with the ability to predict and to analyze spectra representing spin–spin splitting for N = 0–6 (where N is the number of three-bond neighbors that are hydrogens).