Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry

Fourier Transform NMR (FT-NMR): A method to collect an NMR spectrum in which a pulse of radio frequency energy is used to excite all nuclei of a particular isotope (¹H, ¹³C, etc.) in the molecule simultaneously. As the excited nuclei relax, they re-emit radio wave photons which produce an interference pattern called the free induction decay (FID). A mathematical process called a Fourier transform is used to convert the FID into the NMR spectrum.

	Absorb photon (excitation)		Emit photon (relaxation)		Fourier transform
Ground state		Excited state		Free induction decay		NMR spectrum