NMR timescale: The NMR timescale for an interconversion is the timescale judged relative to the difference between the frequencies of nuclei in the start and finish situations.
NMR: See Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
Nearest Neighbour: The atom of closest approach to a given atom in a solid.
Neighbouring Group Effect: The effect that local groups of molecules may have upon the magnetic field experienced by nearby nuclei.
Nernst Equation: This describes how the reduction potentail for a given reaction varies with the activities of the species involved.
Newman Projection: A way of drawing a diagram of a molecule in order to represent 3D data. A projection is drawn from the point of view of someone looking along a bond. This type of projection enables the viewer to see at a glance whether the conformation is staggered, eclipsed etc.
Nitro Group: A nitro group consists of NO2– and is a powerful inductive and mesomeric electron withdrawing group.
Non-Bonding Orbital: This is an atomic orbital which does not assume any bonding or antibonding orbital when incorporated into a molecule, as it does not overlap with any other orbitals. The resultant molecular orbital is described as non-bonding.
Non-Stoichiometric Compound: This is a compound which exhibits the same structure over a range of composition.
Normal Transition Temperature: The temperature of transition for a particular process at one atmosphere pressure.
Normalized Wavefunction: A wavefunction whose square modulus, when integrated over all space, is equal to one.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: (NMR) A method which uses value of the absorption energy for the change in spin of a nucleus to characterize the local structure around the atom containing that nucleus. In the solid state, NMR is used to investigate the magnetic properties of a material.
Nucleophilic: Nucleophilic means “nucleus loving”. i.e. something that is attracted towards positive charge is a nucleophile.