By studying the peaks of nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, chemists can determine the structure of many compounds. It can be a very selective technique, distinguishing among many atoms within a molecule or collection of molecules of the same type but which differ only in terms of their local chemical environment. NMR spectroscopy is used to unambiguously identify known and novel compounds, and as such, is usually required by scientific journals for identity confirmation of synthesized new compounds. See the articles on carbon-13 NMR and proton NMR for detailed discussions.
A chemist can determine the identity of a compound by comparing the observed nuclear precession frequencies to known frequencies. Further structural data can be elucidated by observing spin-spin coupling, a process by which the precession frequency of a nucleus can be influenced by the spin orientation of a chemically bonded nucleus. Spin-spin coupling is easily observed in NMR of hydrogen-1 ( NMR) since its natural abundance is nearly 100%.
Because the nuclear magnetic resonance timescale is rather slow, compared to other spectroscopic methods, changing the temperature of a T* experiment can also give information about fast reactions, such as the Cope rearrangement or about structural dynamics, such as ring-flipping in cyclohexane. At low enough temperatures, a distinction can be made between the axial and equatorial hydrogens in cyclohexane.
An example of nuclear magnetic resonance being used in the determination of a structure is that of buckminsterfullerene (often called "buckyballs", composition C). This now famous form of carbon has 60 carbon atoms forming a sphere. The carbon atoms are all in identical environments and so should see the same internal H field. Unfortunately, buckminsterfullerene contains no hydrogen and so  nuclear magnetic resonance has to be used.  spectra require longer acquisition times since carbon-13 is not the common isotope of carbon (unlike hydrogen, where  is the common isotope). However, in 1990 the spectrum was obtained by R. Taylor and co-workers at the University of Sussex and was found to contain a single peak, confirming the unusual structure of buckminsterfullerene.