LIBRATIONAL EFFECTS ON C-13 NMR SPIN-LATTICE RELAXATION-TIMES OF TRICYCLIC CONDENSED MOLECULES

A general method is described for calculating the effect of internal librational motion on the correlation times in tricyclic molecules having a folded structure about the central hetero-ring. The relaxation equations have been derived for isotropic as well as anisotropic models of overall molecular reorientation. In the case of the isotropic model of motion, the parameter which determines the effective relaxation times is the librational amplitude; for the anisotropic model a somewhat more complicated correlation function is found. The present treatment provides a tool for interpreting in a quantitative way the spin-lattice relaxation times of hydrogen bearing carbons in pharmacologically important tricyclic systems where internal conformational flexibility could be exclusively monitored by using such a non conventional N.M.R. spectroscopic approach. Application of the method and its limitations are discussed briefly. © 1979 Taylor and Francis Ltd.