Chemical and magnetic equivalence

If a set of nuclei exist in identical environments, they are expected to have the same chemical shift. Such nuclei are called chemically equivalent. If in addition, each member of the set has exactly same interaction (J-coupling) to every other magnetically active nucleus in the molecule, then the nuclei are also magnetically equivalent. A set of nuclei that are magnetically equivalent will also be chemically equivalent, however, chemical equivalence does not guarantee magnetic equivalence. e.g. all protons in benzene are magnetically equivalent.

Return to NMR spectroscopy