Comparison of compuational methods for simulating nuclear Overhauser effects in NMR spectroscopy

Various algorithms for solving the Solomon equations describing nuclear Overhauser effects (nOes) in NMR spectroscopy have been compared. The applicability of the eigenvalue/eigenvector and the numerical integration approaches have been investigated. The eigenvalue/eigenvector approach is not a computationally efficient means of simulating nOe experiments in which a saturating radiofrequency field is applied during the time course. For experiments in which nOes develop in the absence of an RF field, this approach should only be used in simulating a full NOESY spectrum. Integration schemes have been found to be more efficient at simulating nOe experiments in which the nOe evolves in the presence of a saturating field, at simulating a partial set of initial perturbation experiments and at simulating a few rows or columns in a NOESY spectrum. Various integration schemes were applied to a two‐spin system for which an analytic solution is available and to a model B‐DNA oligonucleotide hexamer. The previously unused Taylor series algorithm was found to be superior to the Euler, midpoint, and fourth‐order Runge–Kutta methods with regard to integration accuracy/computation time. An adaptive step size control routine for the Taylor series integration scheme was developed. Integration schemes can be speeded up in a simple fashion by introducing a distance cutoff for the dipolar interaction. Using a cutoff of 8 Å the Taylor series algorithm was able to compute the NOESY spectrum more rapidly than the eigenvalue/eigenvector algorithm for large spin systems at short mixing times. At longer mixing times the eigenvalue/eigenvector approach becomes the more efficient scheme.