Carbon-13 NMR
Encyclopedia
Carbon-13 NMR is the application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
NMR spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy, is a research technique that exploits the magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei to determine physical and chemical properties of atoms or the molecules in which they are contained...

 to carbon
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

. It is analogous to proton NMR
Proton NMR
Proton NMR is the application of nuclear magnetic resonance in NMR spectroscopy with respect to hydrogen-1 nuclei within the molecules of a substance, in order to determine the structure of its molecules. In samples where natural hydrogen is used, practically all of the hydrogen consists of the...

 ( NMR) and allows the identification of carbon atom
Atom
The atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...

s in an organic molecule just as proton NMR identifies hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...

 atoms. As such 13C NMR is an important tool in chemical structure
Chemical structure
A chemical structure includes molecular geometry, electronic structure and crystal structure of molecules. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule and the chemical bonds that hold the atoms together. Molecular geometry can range from the very simple, such as...

 elucidation in organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...

. 13C NMR detects only the isotope
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...

 of carbon, whose natural abundance
Natural abundance
In chemistry, natural abundance refers to the abundance of isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass of these isotopes is the atomic weight listed for the element in the periodic table...

 is only 1.1%, because the main carbon isotope, , is not detectable by NMR since it has zero net spin
Spin (physics)
In quantum mechanics and particle physics, spin is a fundamental characteristic property of elementary particles, composite particles , and atomic nuclei.It is worth noting that the intrinsic property of subatomic particles called spin and discussed in this article, is related in some small ways,...

.

Implementation

13C NMR has a number of complications that are not encountered in proton NMR. 13C NMR is much less sensitive to carbon than 1H NMR is to hydrogen since the major isotope of carbon, the 12C isotope, has a spin quantum number
Spin (physics)
In quantum mechanics and particle physics, spin is a fundamental characteristic property of elementary particles, composite particles , and atomic nuclei.It is worth noting that the intrinsic property of subatomic particles called spin and discussed in this article, is related in some small ways,...

 of zero and so is not magnetically active and therefore not detectable by NMR. Only the much less common 13C isotope, present naturally at 1.1% natural abundance, is magnetically active with a spin quantum number of 1/2 (like 1H) and therefore detectable by NMR. Therefore, only the few 13C nuclei present resonate in the magnetic field, although this can be overcome by isotopic enrichment of e.g. protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 samples. In addition, the gyromagnetic ratio (6.728284 107 rad T−1 s−1) is only 1/4 that of 1H, further reducing the sensitivity. The overall
receptivity of 13C is about 4 orders of magnitude lower than 1H.

Another potential complication results from the presence of large one bond J-coupling
J-coupling
J-coupling is the coupling between two nuclear spins due to the influence of bonding electrons on the magnetic field running between the two nuclei. J-coupling contains information about dihedral angles, which can be estimated using the Karplus equation...

 constants between carbon and hydrogen (typically from 100 to 250 Hz). In order to suppress these couplings, which would otherwise complicate the spectra and further reduce sensitivity, carbon NMR spectra are proton decoupled to remove the signal splitting. Couplings between carbons can be ignored due to the low natural abundance of 13C. Hence in contrast to typical proton NMR spectra which show multiplets for each proton position, carbon NMR spectra show a single peak for each chemically non-equivalent carbon atom.

In further contrast to 1H NMR, the intensities of the signals are not normally proportional to the number of equivalent 13C atoms and are instead strongly dependent on the number of surrounding spins
Spin (physics)
In quantum mechanics and particle physics, spin is a fundamental characteristic property of elementary particles, composite particles , and atomic nuclei.It is worth noting that the intrinsic property of subatomic particles called spin and discussed in this article, is related in some small ways,...

 (typically 1H). Spectra can be made more quantitative if necessary by allowing sufficient time for the nuclei to relax
Relaxation (NMR)
In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging the term relaxation describes several processes by which nuclear magnetization prepared in a non-equilibrium state return to the equilibrium distribution. In other words, relaxation describes how fast spins "forget" the...

 between repeat scans. But what is a nuclear spin?

High field magnets with internal bores capable of accepting larger sample tubes (typically 10 mm in diameter for 13C NMR versus 5 mm for 1H NMR), the use of relaxation reagents, for example Cr(acac)3 (chromium (III) acetylacetonate, CAS number 21679-31-2), and appropriate pulse sequences have reduced the time needed to acquire quantitative spectra and have made quantitative carbon-13 NMR a commonly used technique in many industrial labs. Applications range from quantification of drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...

 purity to determination of the composition of high molecular weight synthetic polymers.

13C chemical shift
Chemical shift
In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the chemical shift is the resonant frequency of a nucleus relative to a standard. Often the position and number of chemical shifts are diagnostic of the structure of a molecule...

s follow the same principles as those of 1H, although the typical range of chemical shifts is much larger than for 1H (by a factor of about 20). The chemical shift reference standard for
13C is the carbons in tetramethylsilane
Tetramethylsilane
Tetramethylsilane is the chemical compound with the formula Si4. It is the simplest tetraorganosilane. Like all silanes, the TMS framework is tetrahedral...

 (TMS), whose chemical shift is considered to be 0.0 ppm.

Typical chemical shifts in 13C-NMR


DEPT spectra

DEPT stands for Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer. It is a very useful method for determining the presence of primary, secondary and tertiary carbon atoms. The DEPT experiment differentiates between CH, CH2 and CH3 groups by variation of the selection angle parameter (the tip angle of the final 1H pulse):
  • 45° angle gives all carbons with attached protons (regardless of number) in phase
  • 90° angle gives only CH groups, the others being suppressed
  • 135° angle gives all CH and CH3 in a phase opposite to CH2



Signals from quaternary carbons and other carbons with no attached protons are always absent (due to the lack of attached protons).

The polarization transfer from 1H to 13C has the
secondary advantage of increasing the sensitivity over the normal 13C
spectrum (which has a modest enhancement from the NOE (Nuclear Overhauser Effect)
Nuclear Overhauser effect
The Nuclear Overhauser Effect is the transfer of nuclear spin polarization from one nuclear spin population to another via cross-relaxation. It is a common phenomenon observed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The theoretical basis for the NOE was described and experimentally verified...

 due to the 1H decoupling).

External links

  • Carbon NMR spectra, where there are three spectra of ethyl phthalate, ethyl
    Ethyl group
    In chemistry, an ethyl group is an alkyl substituent derived from ethane . It has the formula -C2H5 and is very often abbreviated -Et.Ethylation is the formation of a compound by introduction of the ethyl functional group, C2H5....

     ester
    Ester
    Esters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...

     of orthophthalic acid: completely coupled, completely decoupled and off-resonance decoupled (in this order).

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