Communication: Permanent dipoles contribute to electric polarization in chiral NMR spectra

Abstract

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is blind to chirality because the spectra of a molecule and its mirror image are identical unless the environment is chiral. However, precessing nuclear magnetic moments in chiral molecules in a strong magnetic field induce an electric polarization through the nuclear magnetic shielding polarizability. This effect is equal and opposite for a molecule and its mirror image but is small and has not yet been observed. It is shown that the permanent electric dipole moment of a chiral molecule is partially oriented through the antisymmetric part of the nuclear magnetic shielding tensor, causing the electric dipole to precess with the nuclear magnetic moment and producing a much larger temperature-dependent electric polarization with better prospects of detection.