Virtual decoupling to break the Simplification Versus Resolution Trade Off in NMR of Complex Metabolic Mixtures
Abstract. The HSQC experiment developed by Bodenhausen and Ruben (Bodenhausen and Ruben, 1980) in the early days of modern NMR is without a doubt one of the most widely used experiments, with applications in almost every aspect of NMR including metabolomics. Acquiring this experiment however always implies a trade-off: simplification versus resolution. Here, we present a method that artificially lifts this barrier, and demonstrate its application towards metabolite identification in a complex mixture. Based on the measurement of CLean In-Phase and CLean Anti-Phase (CLIP/CLAP) HSQC spectra (Enthart et al., 2008), we construct a virtually decoupled HSQC (vd-HSQC) spectrum that maintains the highest possible resolution in the proton dimension. Combining this vd-HSQC spectrum with a J-resolved spectrum (Pell and Keeler, 2007) provides useful information for the one-dimensional proton spectrum assignment and for the identification of metabolites in Dreissena polymorpha (Prud’homme et al., 2020).