Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 5, 2026

Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures
Published on: January 7, 2019
Profiling of carbohydrate mixtures at unprecedented resolution using high-precision 1H-13C chemical shift
Bent Ole Petersen1, Ole Hindsgaul, Sebastian Meier
1Carlsberg Laboratory, Gamle Carlsberg Vej 10, 1799 Copenhagen V, Denmark. sebastian.meier@carlsberglab.dk.
Abstract:
Complex mixtures of carbohydrates pose distinct challenges in routine and high-throughput analysis, so that only a few carbohydrate components are routinely resolved and identified in biofluids, extracts, foods and other complex mixtures. Here, we conduct precise measurements of (1)H and (13)C anomeric chemical shifts to construct a reference library of specific carbohydrate signals with high-resolution two-dimensional (1)H-(13)C NMR spectra. High-resolution multidimensional NMR spectra largely abolish resolution problems in carbohydrate analysis with state-of-the-art instrumentation. Accurate measurements of anomeric (1)H-(13)C chemical shifts at parts per billion precisions permit robust carbohydrate identification using a very limited number of instrument-independent reference values.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
¹³C NMR: Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer (DEPT)
High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS)
2D NMR: Heteronuclear Single-Quantum Correlation Spectroscopy (HSQC)
¹³C NMR: ¹H–¹³C Decoupling
A broadband decoupling technique is used to simplify these complex, sometimes overlapping, signals. Broadband decoupling relies on a...
NMR and Mass Spectroscopy of Carboxylic Acids
While α protons of carboxylic acids absorb at 2–2.5 ppm, β protons absorb further upfield.
Carboxylic acids are easily identified by dissolving them in deuterium oxide, which results in a rapid exchange of the acidic protons with deuterium. This leads to the...
Chemical Shift: Internal References and Solvent Effects
The internal reference compound generally used in NMR spectroscopy is tetramethylsilane (TMS). TMS is preferred because it is chemically inert, soluble in NMR solvents, and easily removable. Also, the highly shielded methyl protons in TMS yield an intense...

