Recent advances in solid-state NMR spectroscopy of spin I = 1/2 nuclei

This perspective contains a brief review of some of the most recent developments in solid-state NMR spectroscopy of spin I = 1/2 nuclei. Over the last few years, methodological advances have concerned both (1)H and lower gamma spin I = 1/2 nuclei (i.e. (13)C) and have led to the introduction of sophisticated high-resolution techniques that allow the structural investigation at an atomic level of wider and wider classes of materials. Significant developments have thus been reported in the characterisation of crystalline organic molecules, notably with the de novo structure determination of powders at natural isotopic abundance essentially by NMR alone. Key advances have been made in parallel in the structural characterisation of inorganic or hybrid frameworks, often in combination with first principle calculation of the NMR observed. Finally, progress has been reported in the structural investigation of proteins, which are not amenable to solution NMR or X-ray crystallography.