Studies in Configurational & Conformational Analysis Acetanilide offers a nice simple example of how NOEs can be used to determine configuration. The cis configuration of the amide has the N-H and CH3 groups located relatively close in space, while the trans configuration should have the CH3 and an aryl C-H group relatively close, see Figure 1. Thus, each configuration should have distinct NOEs, allowing one to use the NOE data to determine the predominant configuration of the amide.