17O n.m.r. studies of amino acids in the solid state, in single- and polycrystalline forms.

A single crystal of 17O enriched alpha-glycine was grown by slow evaporation of aqueous solution. 17O n.m.r. studies of the alpha-glycine molecule in single crystalline form revealed five 17O transitions each consisting of two lines due to inequivalency of the oxygen atoms in the unit cell, with each of these lines revealing a dipolar interaction between the 17O and the nearest hydrogen atom. The spectral width was found to be of the order of magnitude of MHz and the linewidths of the order of magnitude of 2 kHz.