Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum of Ethanol

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Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can measure radio-frequency Zeeman transitions of proton spins in a magnetic field. It is more convenient to sweep the magnetic field through the resonances at a fixed frequency, typically 60 MHz. The resonances are sensitive to the chemical environment of nonequivalent protons, an effect known as the chemical shift. A classic example is the ethanol molecule CC
OH, which shows three chemically-distinct hydrogen atom sites, thus three NMR peaks with intensity ratios 3:2:1. The relevant parameter is
, representing the fractional deviation of the chemical shift measured in parts per million (ppm) from that of tetramethylsilane (TMS), a convenient standard assigned the reference value
. A small amount of TMS is often added to the sample being measured to calibrate the
-scale.
Contributed by: S. M. Blinder (March 2011)
Open content licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Snapshots
Details
Snapshot 1: the earliest detection of the chemical shift, obtained at Stanford University in 1951; the three peaks in ethanol have approximate values of 4.85, 3.75 and 1.25, with relative intensities identifying these with the OH, C
, and C
protons, respectively
Snapshot 2: at higher resolution, spin-spin splittings can be observed; the peak at is from a trace amount of TMS
Snapshot 3: resonance absorption and emission of protons in the C group; the different possible orientations of the C
protons are also indicated
Reference: S. M. Blinder, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Amsterdam: Elsevier, Academic Press, 2004 p. 247ff.
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