Advances in NMR over a half-century

ANYL 35

Edwin D. Becker, tbecker@nih.gov, National Institutes of Health, 5 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, nuclear magnetic resonance moved from a specialized laboratory technique to one of the central analytical methods for the elucidation of molecular structures. With introduction of higher magnetic fields and two-dimensional Fourier transform methods, there were dramatic increases in the size of molecules that could be studied and in the detailed information that could be obtained. In this talk, I will summarize the overall developments in the NMR field and weave in some personal aspects of participating in, teaching, and writing about this revolution in analytical methodology. The talks that follow will highlight some contemporary frontiers in the applications of NMR to chemistry and the molecular sciences.