The CP/MAS 13C NMR line shape of cellulose I has been qualitatively analyzed by direct simulations using the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck stochastic process and the Kubo model. Both approaches describe a anhydroglucose C4 carbon as a oscillator with fluctuating Larmor frequency. The NMR resonance frequency is written , where the fluctuating part with zero mean was modelled as a stationary Markov diffusion process.
The simulation results both motivates the use of multiple line shapes when fitting CP/MAS 13C NMR spectra recorded on cellulose I and gives some insights into why signals from crystalline cellulose I give rise to Lorentzian line shapes.