How the 1D-NOESY suppresses solvent signal in metabonomics NMR spectroscopy: An examination of the pulse sequence components and evolution

Metabonomics has become an increasingly shared pursuit in international research. Presently the two most common techniques are mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry either in isolation or in conjunction. The 1D‐1H‐NOESY is the most utilized (Beckonert et al., Nat Protoc 2007;2:2692–2703) NMR pulse sequence for the collection of metabonomics NMR data from biological samples such as blood plasma, serum, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, sputum, or homogenized tissue extracts. While the 1D version of the 2D‐1H,1H‐NOESY pulse sequence has become widely used in metabonomics studies, the understanding of the mechanism of solvent suppression has not kept pace. This article will examine the mechanisms by which the 1D‐NOESY suppresses solvent signals and detail the pulse sequence's components in terms of function, phase cycle, and performance. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson Part A 38: 197–220, 2011.