An NMR Approach Applicable to Biomolecular Structure Characterization

A generalized 2D correlation NMR (GEN2D-NMR) scheme capable of substantially reducing the experimental time for two-dimensional correlation NMR experiments is described. The experimental time used in GEN2D-NMR is shortened to less than one-tenth of that required in traditional double Fourier transform 2D-NMR (FT2D-NMR) for a 13C-13C spin diffusion experiment for Nephila edulis spider threads. Experimentally, one needs to acquire many fewer points in GEN2D-NMR than that in FT2D-NMR in the evolution time domain. By keeping other acquisition pulse sequence and parameters the same in both methods, the GEN2D-NMR technique can produce a 2D-NMR spectrum using fewer points along the evolution time domain equivalent to that produced by the FT2D-NMR technique using more points. GEN2D-NMR would provide a significant advantage for those molecules that are difficult to highly isotropically label, such as proteins, polypeptides, and polymers, or those which become unstable in a prolonged measurement time.