Elucidating the structures of biopolymers as they exist in nature has long been a goal of biochemists and biologists. Understanding how these substances interact with themselves, other solutes, and solvents can provide useful insights into many areas of biochemistry, agriculture, food science and medicine. Knowledge of the structure of a protein or complex carbohydrate in its native form provides guidelines for the chemical or genetic modifications often desired to optimize these compounds to specific needs and applications. For example, in the pharmaceutical industry, structure-function relationships involving biopolymers are studied rou tinely as a means to design new drugs and improve their efficacies. The tools to conduct structure investigations of biopolymers at the molecular level are limited in number. Historically X-ray crystallography has been the most attractive method to conduct studies of this type. How ever, X-ray methods can only be applied to highly ordered, crystalline materials, thus obviating studies of solution dynamics that are often critical to attaining a global understanding of biopolymer behavior. In recent years, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has evolved to become a powerful tool to probe the structures of biopolymers in solution and in the solid state. NMR provides a means to study the dynamics of polymers in solution, and to examine the effects of solute, solvent and' other factors~n polymer behavior. With the development of 2D and 3D forms of NMR spectroscopy, it is now possible to assess the solution conforma tions of small proteins, oligonucleotides and oligosaccharides.

‘‘Biopolymers’’ are polymeric materials of biological origin, including globular, membrane, and fibrous proteins, polypeptides, nucleic acids, po- saccharides, lipids, etc. and their assembly, although preference to respe- ive subjects may be different among readers who are more interested in their biological significance or industrial and/or medical applications. Nevert- less, characterizing or revealing their secondary structure and dynamics may be an equally very important and useful issue for both kinds of readers. Special interest in revealing the 3D structure of globular proteins, nucleic acids, and peptides was aroused in relation to the currently active Structural Biology. X-ray crystallography and multidimensional solution NMR sp- troscopy have proved to be the standard and indispensable means for this purpose. There remain, however, several limitations to this end, if one intends to expand its scope further. This is because these approaches are not always straightforward to characterize fibrous or membrane proteins owing to extreme difficulty in crystallization in the former, and insufficient spectral resolution due to sparing solubility or increased effective molecular mass in the presence of surrounding lipid bilayers in the latter.

Since the introduction of FT-NMR spectroscopy around five decades ago, NMR has achieved significant advances in hardware and methodologies, accompanied with the enhancement of spectral resolution and signal sensitivity. Rapid developments in the polymers field mean that accurate and quantitative characterization of polymer structures and dynamics is the keystone for precisely regulating and controlling the physical and chemical properties of the polymer. This book specifically focuses on NMR investigation of complex polymers for the polymer community as well as NMR spectroscopists, and will push the development of both fields. It covers the latest advances, for example high field DNP and ultrafast MAS methodologies, and show how these novel NMR methods characterize various synthetic and natural polymers.

The content of this volume has been added to eMagRes (formerly Encyclopedia of Magnetic Resonance) - the ultimate online resource for NMR and MRI. The field of solid state NMR of biological samples [ssNMR] has blossomed in the past 5-10 years, and a cohesive overview of the technology is needed for new practitioners in industry and academia. This title provides an overview of Solid State NMR methods for studying structure dynamics and ligand-binding in biopolymers, and offers an overview of RF pulse sequences for various applications, including not only a systematic catalog but also a discussion of theoretical tools for analysis of pulse sequences. Practical examples of biochemical applications are included, along with a detailed discussion of the many aspects of sample preparation and handling that make spectroscopy on solid proteins successful. About EMR Handbooks / eMagRes Handbooks The Encyclopedia of Magnetic Resonance (up to 2012) and eMagRes (from 2013 onward) publish a wide range of online articles on all aspects of magnetic resonance in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. The existence of this large number of articles, written by experts in various fields, is enabling the publication of a series of EMR Handbooks / eMagRes Handbooks on specific areas of NMR and MRI. The chapters of each of these handbooks will comprise a carefully chosen selection of articles from eMagRes. In consultation with the eMagRes Editorial Board, the EMR Handbooks / eMagRes Handbooks are coherently planned in advance by specially-selected Editors, and new articles are written (together with updates of some already existing articles) to give appropriate complete coverage. The handbooks are intended to be of value and interest to research students, postdoctoral fellows and other researchers learning about the scientific area in question and undertaking relevant experiments, whether in academia or industry. Have the content of this Handbook and the complete content of eMagRes at your fingertips! Visit: www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/ref/eMagRes View other eMagRes publications here

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Biochemistry: Principles and Applications focuses on the principles and applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in biochemistry. Topics covered include experimental methods in NMR; the mechanisms of NMR relaxation; chemical and paramagnetic shifts; spin-spin splitting; the use of NMR in investigations of biopolymers and biomolecular interactions; and molecular dynamics in biological and biochemical systems. This text is comprised of eight chapters; the first of which gives an overview of NMR spectroscopy and its use in studies of biological systems. The next two chapters discuss the theoretical basis for NMR applications in biochemistry, with emphasis on Bloch equations, quantum mechanics, correlation function and correlation time, double resonance, and chemical exchange. The reader is then introduced to the basis for chemical shifts and spin-spin splitting, along with several examples of the use of these NMR parameters in studies of small molecule interactions and structure. The experimental apparatus and procedures employed in NMR studies, Fourier transform NMR, and NMR spectral parameters of small molecules interacting with macromolecules are also considered. The book highlights the information obtainable from the spectra of biopolymers, and then concludes with a chapter on NMR investigations of the state of motion of lipids in membranes and model membranes; water in macromolecular and cellular systems; and sodium ion in biological tissue. This book is intended primarily for chemists, biochemists, biophysicists, and molecular biologists, as well as graduate students.

Applications of Polymer Spectroscopy focuses on the use of spectroscopy for the determination of polymer structure. This book is divided into three general areas of spectroscopy: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy. This text is comprised of 16 chapters and begins with a discussion on the applications of NMR spectroscopy, including carbon-13 NMR, proton NMR, and fluorine-19 NMR. The next section considers infrared spectroscopy, with special consideration to the Fourier transform method and the dynamic method of handling the examination of ...

This book presents a critical assessment of progress on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the structure of proteins, including brief reviews of the history of the field along with coverage of current clinical and in vivo applications. The book, in honor of Oleg Jardetsky, one of the pioneers of the field, is edited by two of the most highly respected investigators using NMR, and features contributions by most of the leading workers in the field. It will be valued as a landmark publication that presents the state-of-the-art perspectives regarding one of today's most important technologies.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful and widely used techniques in chemical research for investigating structures and dynamics of molecules. Advanced methods can even be utilized for structure determinations of biopolymers, for example proteins or nucleic acids. NMR is also used in medicine for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The method is based on spectral lines of different atomic nuclei that are excited when a strong magnetic field and a radiofrequency transmitter are applied. The method is very sensitive to the features of molecular structure because also the neighboring atoms influence the signals from individual nuclei and this is important for determining the 3D-structure of molecules. This new edition of the popular classic has a clear style and a highly practical, mostly non-mathematical approach. Many examples are taken from organic and organometallic chemistry, making this book an invaluable guide to undergraduate and graduate students of organic chemistry, biochemistry, spectroscopy or physical chemistry, and to researchers using this well-established and extremely important technique. Problems and solutions are included.

Describes both high resolution solution and solid state techniques; presents applications to synthetic and biological polymers; demonstrates the connection between microstructures, conformations, and NMR spectra of polymers. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR