On the role of "mental leaps" in small-molecule structure elucidation by NMR spectroscopy

While scientific publications often mention uncertainties or mistakes associated with a scientific conclusion due to technical limitations, they very rarely note even the slightest possibility of a man-made error in connection with a research program. However, such human mistakes are ubiquitous in science, and usually come from what we call "mental traps" or a lack of professional experience. In this article, we outline a simple model of the complex learning process through which the professional expertise of a scientist evolves. Key elements of this development are the "mental leaps", the moments when one redefines one's approach to new problems. In this rather unusual paper, we report on resolving three intriguing NMR-based structure-elucidation problems involving this learning process by an NMR spectroscopist employed in an industrial R&D & QC environment. [GRAPHICS] .