SOMO (SOlution MOdeler) differences between X-Ray- and NMR-derived bead models suggest a role for side chain

Nithin Rai1, Marcelo Nöllmann, Bruno Spotorno

  • 1Division of Infection & Immunity, Institute of Biomedical & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom.

Related Concept Videos

¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution00:52

¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution

At room temperature, the chair conformer of cyclohexane undergoes rapid ring flipping between two equivalent chair conformers at a rate of approximately 105 times per second. These two chair conformers are in equilibrium. The rapid ring flipping results in the interconversion of the axial proton to an equatorial proton and an equatorial to the axial proton. Such interconversions are too rapid and cannot be detected on the NMR timescale. Hence, the NMR spectrometer cannot distinguish between the...
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR01:15

¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR

The axial and equatorial protons in cyclohexane can be distinguished by performing a variable-temperature NMR experiment. In this process, except for one proton, the remaining eleven protons are replaced by deuterium. The deuterium substitution avoids the possible peak splitting caused by the spin-spin coupling between the adjacent protons. The remaining proton flips between the axial and equatorial positions.
Molecular Models02:00

Molecular Models

Physical models representing molecular architectures of chemical compounds play essential roles in understanding chemistry. The use of molecular models makes it easier to visualize the structures and shapes of atoms and molecules.
¹H NMR: Complex Splitting01:13

¹H NMR: Complex Splitting

A proton M that is coupled to a proton X results in doublet signals for M. However, NMR-active nuclei can be simultaneously coupled to more than one nonequivalent nucleus. When M is coupled to a second proton A, such as in styrene oxide, each peak in the doublet is split into another doublet.
Splitting diagrams or splitting tree diagrams are routinely used to depict such complex couplings. While drawing splitting diagrams, the splitting with the larger coupling constant is usually applied first.
NMR Spectroscopy: Spin–Spin Coupling01:08

NMR Spectroscopy: Spin–Spin Coupling

The spin state of an NMR-active nucleus can have a slight effect on its immediate electronic environment. This effect propagates through the intervening bonds and affects the electronic environments of NMR-active nuclei up to three bonds away; occasionally, even farther. This phenomenon is called spin–spin coupling or J-coupling. Coupling interactions are mutual and result in small changes in the absorption frequencies of both nuclei involved. While nuclei of the same element are involved in...
X-ray Crystallography02:18

X-ray Crystallography

The size of the unit cell and the arrangement of atoms in a crystal may be determined from measurements of the diffraction of X-rays by the crystal, termed X-ray crystallography.
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...