The hyperfine shifted resonances arising from all four individual haem carbons of the paramagnetic low-spin met-cyano complex of sperm whale myoglobin have been clearly identified and assigned for the first time with the aid of 1H-13C heteronuclear chemical shift correlated spectroscopy. Alteration of the in-plane symmetry of the electronic structure of haem induced by the ligation of proximal histidyl imidazole spreads the haem carbon resonances to 32 ppm at 22°C, indicating the sensitivity of those resonances to the haem electronic/molecular structure. Those resonances are potentially powerful probes in characterizing the nature of haem electronic structure.
