Golden balls! Relativistic quantum chemical theory suggests the existence of an interesting and surprising gold cluster. The all‐gold fullerene Au₃₂ (see picture) is structurally very similar to the familiar buckminsterfullerene C₆₀, as it is approximately the same size and hollow. Au₃₂ is stabilized by relativistic effects and spherical aromaticity; the magnetic shielding at the center of the fullerene has the highest predicted value.

The art of quantum chemical electronic structure calculation has over the last 15 years reached a point where systematic computational studies of magnetic response properties have become a routine procedure for molecular systems. One of their most prominent areas of application are the spectral parameters of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, due to the immense importance of this experimental method in many scientific disciplines. This article attempts to give an overview on the theory and state-of-the-art of the practical computations in the field, in terms of the size of systems that can be treated, the accuracy that can be expected, and the various factors that would influence the agreement of even the most accurate imaginable electronic structure calculation with experiment. These factors include relativistic effects, thermal effects, as well as solvation/environmental influences, where my group has been active. The dependence of the NMR spectra on external magnetic and optical fields is also briefly touched on.

We present perturbational ab initio calculations of the leading-order one-electron relativistic contributions to the nuclear magnetic resonance shielding tensor based on the Pauli Hamiltonian. The scalar relativistic and spin–orbit interaction effects, including both relativistic corrections to the wave function (“passive” relativistic effects) and relativistic magnetic perturbation operators (“active” effects), are considered for H2X (X=O, S, Se, Te, Po), HX (X=F, Cl, Br, I, At), and noble gas (Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn) systems. The perturbational corrections are calculated using linear and quadratic response theory applied to nonrelativistic reference states. We use the uncorrelated self-consistent field as well as correlated, multiconfigurational complete active space self-consistent field models. Results for the 1H and heavy-atom shielding constants and anisotropies are compared with Dirac–Hartree–Fock and quasirelativistic data.

We present a general and systematic electronic structure theory of the nuclear magnetic resonance shielding tensor and the associated chemical shift for paramagnetic atoms, molecules, and nonmetallic solids. The approach is for the first time rigorous for an arbitrary spin state as well as arbitrary spatial symmetry and is formulated without reference to spin susceptibility. The leading-order magnetic-field dependence of shielding is derived. The theory is demonstrated by first principles calculations of organometallic molecules.