High resolution NMR of solids. What can it tell us about synthetic polymers?

This memo reviews five examples of problems concerning synthetic polymers that can be addressed using solid state NMR spectroscopy. These include (1) conformation and chain packing in polypropylene; (2) degree of crystallinity in trans-polybutadiene; (3) copolymer composition of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene); (4) degree of orientation in poly(ethylene terephthalate); and (5) phase separation in polyurethanes. The paper represents an invited contribution for ChemTech.