Articles you may be interested inTheoretical prediction of nuclear magnetic shieldings and indirect spin-spin coupling constants in 1,1-, cis-, and trans-1,2-difluoroethylenes J. Chem. Phys. 140, 144303 (2014) We have employed the Douglas-Kroll-Hess approximation to derive the perturbative Hamiltonians involved in the calculation of NMR spin-spin couplings in molecules containing heavy elements. We have applied this two-component quasirelativistic approach using finite perturbation theory in combination with a generalized Kohn-Sham code that includes the spin-orbit interaction self-consistently and works with Hartree-Fock and both pure and hybrid density functionals. We present numerical results for one-bond spin-spin couplings in the series of tetrahydrides CH 4 , SiH 4 , GeH 4 , and SnH 4 . Our two-component Hartree-Fock results are in good agreement with four-component Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculations, although a density-functional treatment better reproduces the available experimental data.