Intramolecular through-space NMR spectroscopic effect of steric compression on 1H NMR spectroscopy

The intramolecular through-space NMR spectroscopic effect of steric compression is related to intramolecular through-space van der Waals repulsion. The electron cloud of a proton can be pushed away by the electron cloud of a nearby proton or functional group. As the electron population of the sterically compressed proton is decreased (therefore deshielded), the chemical shift sharply moves downfield, which may result in ambiguity for the proton signal assignment. Also, the conformation of the local area of the sterically compressed proton can be altered by the steric repulsion, therefore, the coupling constant/coupling pattern of a sterically compressed proton could be influenced. This review summarizes and presents the impacts on the chemical shift and coupling constant by the 1H NMR spectroscopic effect of steric compression extracted from the reported examples from the 1950s to 2021.