Abstract:
The review presents the present state of research into the directly bonded 13C–13C spin–spin coupling constants (SSCC) — the parameters of NMR spectra which are most difficult to measure and which contain unique structural information. The principal factors determining the magnitude of the direct 13C–13C SSCC, namely the hybridisation of the interacting atoms, the electronic influence of substituents, steric and solvation effects, and the influence of the unshared electron pairs of the heteroatoms, are analysed. The possibilities of using the directly bonded 13C–13C SSCC for the solution of a wide variety of structural problems in chemistry are examined; special attention is devoted to the prospects for the employment of these parameters in stereochemistry and conformational analysis. The bibliography includes 232 references.