A Review of LC-NMR Methods and Applications for Pharmaceutical and Natural Product Analysis

The separation and identification of components in complex mixtures is a requirement for any aspect of modern chemistry. The hyphenated technique of liquid chromatography (LC)-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) allows the combination of the separation capabilities of a liquid chromatograph with the structure elucidation capabilities of NMR. As this technique has developed, many approaches have been implemented, and this review aims to discuss these while addressing some of the practical considerations. An examination of the supporting strategies for LC-NMR is discussed, such as the development of solvent suppression methods, the design of more specialized NMR cells, or further hyphenation to other instrumentation such as a mass spectrometer. A sampling of relevant pharmaceutical and natural product applications is discussed that serve to highlight the utility of this technique and its relevancy and current status in the field.