Hydrogen-exchange kinetics studied through analysis of self-decoupling of nuclear magnetic resonance.

Hydrogen exchange between solute and water molecules occurs across a wide range of timescales. Rapid hydrogen-exchange processes can effectively diminish 1H-15N scalar couplings. We demonstrate that the self-decoupling of 15N nuclear magnetic resonance can allow quantitative investigations of hydrogen exchange on a micro- to millisecond timescale, which is relatively difficult to analyze with other methods. Using a Liouvillian matrix incorporating hydrogen exchange as a mechanism for scalar relaxation, the hydrogen exchange rate can be determined from 15N NMR line shapes recorded with and without 1H decoupling. Self-decoupling offers a simple approach to analyze the kinetics of hydrogen exchange in a wide range of timescale.