Towards perfect NMR: Spin-echo versus perfect-echo building blocks

The development of new tools to improve the quality of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra is a challenging task. The concept of “perfect NMR” includes the design of robust pulse sequences that allow an investigator to obtain undistorted pure in-phase signals, with pure absorption lineshapes that are free of phase anomalies derived from undesired J modulations. Here, alternative NMR building blocks to the spin-echo that are based on a general double SE module, known as a perfect-echo, are reviewed. Several implementations to minimize/remove unwanted dispersive contributions in homonuclear and heteronuclear NMR experiments are described and illustrated with some examples of broad interest for small molecules.