Silver and Gold NMR

Silver and gold, together with copper, form the transition metal group IB elements in the periodic table and possess very different nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic properties. While there is only one gold isotope ((197)Au), which has a spin of 3/2 and therefore a quadrupole moment, silver occurs in two isotopic forms ((109)Ag and (109)Au), both of which have a spin 1/2 and similar NMR spectroscopic properties. The unfavorable properties of gold have prevented its NMR spectroscopic investigation thus far. On the other hand, there are several reports of silver NMR. However, the low sensitivity of silver, combined with its long relaxation times have rendered the direct detection of silver possible only with concentrations greater than a few tenth molar. Reviewed here are the general limitations of silver NMR and some techniques to partially overcome these limitations, as well as a summary of currently available chemical shift and scalar coupling data on (109)Ag.