Chirality in NMR spectroscopy

Abstract Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra are blind to chirality unless the environment discriminates d and l enantiomers. However, a nuclear magnetic moment in the x -direction combined with the strong magnetic field B z ( 0 ) induces, through an odd-parity coupling in a freely tumbling chiral molecule, an electric dipole moment in the y -direction. Estimates of the rotating electric polarization at the NMR frequency following a π/2 pulse indicate that it should be detectable in favourable cases, foreshadowing a new dimension for the NMR spectroscopy of chiral molecules.