Resolution enhancement in MAS solid-state NMR by application of 13C homonuclear scalar decoupling during acquisition

Spectral resolution imposes a major problem on the evaluation of MAS solid-state NMR experiments as larger biomolecular systems are concerned. We show in this communication that decoupling of the C-13-C-13 homonuclear scalar couplings during stroboscopic detection can be successfully applied to increase the spectral resolution up to a factor of 2-2.5 and sensitivity up to a factor of 1.2. We expect that this approach will be useful for the study of large biomolecular systems like membrane proteins and amyloidogenic peptides and proteins where spectral overlap is critical. The experiments are demonstrated on a uniformly C-13, N-15-labelled sample of Nac-Val-Leu-OH and applied to a uniformly C-13, N-15-enriched sample of a hexameric amyloidogenic peptide. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.