17O nuclear magnetic resonance: Recent advances and applications

The present review is focused on the most recent achievements in the application of liquid phase ¹⁷O nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to inorganic, organic, and biochemical molecules focusing on their structure, conformations, and (bio)chemical behavior. The review is composed of four basic parts, namely, (1) simple molecules; (2) water and hydrogen bonding; (3) metal oxides, clusters, and complexes; and (4) biological molecules. Experimental ¹⁷O NMR chemical shifts are thoroughly tabulated. They span a range of as much as almost 650 ppm (from −35.6 to +610.0 ppm) for inorganic and organic molecules, whereas this range is much wider for biological species being of about 1350 ppm (from −12 to +1332 ppm), and in the case of hemoproteins and heme-model compounds, isotropic chemical shifts of up to 2500 ppm were observed. The general prospects and caveats in the modern development of the liquid phase ¹⁷O NMR in chemistry and biochemistry are critically discussed and briefly outlined in view of their future applications.