Proton nuclear magnetic resonance

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (proton NMR, hydrogen-1 NMR, or ¹H 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.^[1] In samples where natural hydrogen (H) is used, practically all the hydrogen consists of the isotope ¹H (hydrogen-1; i.e. having a proton for a nucleus).

Simple NMR spectra are recorded in solution, and solvent protons must not be allowed to interfere. Deuterated (deuterium = ²H, often symbolized as D) solvents especially for use in NMR are preferred, e.g. deuterated water, D₂O, deuterated acetone, (CD₃)₂CO, deuterated methanol, CD₃OD, deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide, (CD₃)₂SO, and deuterated chloroform, CDCl₃. However, a solvent without hydrogen, such as carbon tetrachloride, CCl₄ or carbon disulfide, CS₂, may also be used.

Historically, deuterated solvents were supplied with a small amount (typically 0.1%) of tetramethylsilane (TMS) as an internal standard for referencing the chemical shifts of each analyte proton. TMS is a tetrahedral molecule, with all protons being chemically equivalent, giving one single signal, used to define a chemical shift = 0 ppm. ^[2] It is volatile, making sample recovery easy as well. Modern spectrometers are able to reference spectra based on the residual proton in the solvent (e.g. the CHCl₃, 0.01% in 99.99% CDCl₃). Deuterated solvents are now commonly supplied without TMS.

Deuterated solvents permit the use of deuterium frequency-field lock (also known as deuterium lock or field lock) to offset the effect of the natural drift of the NMR's magnetic field ${\displaystyle B_{0}}$. In order to provide deuterium lock, the NMR constantly monitors the deuterium signal resonance frequency from the solvent and makes changes to the ${\displaystyle B_{0}}$ to keep the resonance frequency constant.^[3] Additionally, the deuterium signal may be used to accurately define 0 ppm as the resonant frequency of the lock solvent and the difference between the lock solvent and 0 ppm (TMS) are well known.

Proton NMR spectra of most organic compounds are characterized by chemical shifts in the range +14 to -4 ppm and by spin–spin coupling between protons. The integration curve for each proton reflects the abundance of the individual protons.

Simple molecules have simple spectra. The spectrum of ethyl chloride consists of a triplet at 1.5 ppm and a quartet at 3.5 ppm in a 3:2 ratio. The spectrum of benzene consists of a single peak at 7.2 ppm due to the diamagnetic ring current.

Together with carbon-13 NMR, proton NMR is a powerful tool for molecular structure characterization.