Solvent-independent determination of heteroatom protonation states from NMR spectra by differential deuterium isotope shifts

Abstract

The NMR-spectroscopy based structure elucidation of organic molecules containing heteroatoms is often obstructed by the difficulties in determining the heteroatom protonation states. Here we describe a simple but broadly applicable approach for the determination of the protonation states of heteroatoms. Differential deuterium isotope shifts observed upon the addition of small amounts of H₂O or D₂O to any solvent can be used to determine the protonation states of heteroatoms.