Magnitude COSY-90 vs. Phase Sensitive COSY-90

Most commonly, chemists run simple COSY spectra in magnitude mode. A magnitude COSY provides positive peaks for both the diagonal and off-diagonal responses due to the magnitude calculation. The responses in a standard COSY-90 sequence have lines with a phase twist shape. The magnitude calculation is necessary to provide positive responses and the time domain data are usually treated with a sine bell weighting function (or something similar) to enhance the resolution lost in the phase twist lineshape. There are however, several versions of the COSY experiment. One such version is a phase sensitive COSY-90. This version provides off-diagonal responses that can be phased. Furthermore, the coupling giving rise to the cross peak (the active coupling) will be antiphase. The disadvantage to this method is that the diagonal responses are 90 degrees out of phase and can obscure off-diagonal responses close to the diagonal. The figure below compares a magnitude COSY-90 to a phase sensitive COSY-90 for ethyl acetate. In the figure, black is positive and red is negative.