Lecture 23 - Diamagnetic Anisotropy and Spin-Spin Splitting. Through-space interaction between magnets of fixed strength and orientation averages to zero during random molecular tumbling,
suggesting that the local field about a proton should be sensitive only to electrons that orbit about itself. The chemical shift can be sensitive to electrons orbiting elsewhere if the amount of
orbiting varies with molecular orientation. This "diamagnetic anisotropy" is commonly used to rationalize the unusual chemical shifts of protons in acetylene and in aromatic and antiaromatic compounds.
The other source of a proton's local field is nearby magnetic nuclei, which can be counted by the splitting multiplicity. Unlike chemical shift, which is measured in fractional units because it depends on
the strength of the applied field, this spin-spin splitting (J), measured in Hz, is dependent only on molecular structure. J depends not on spatial proximity, but on orbital overlap, which,
remarkably, is larger for anti- than for eclipsed conformations.
(from oyc.yale.edu)
Lecture 23 - Diamagnetic Anisotropy and Spin-Spin Splitting