Site-specific 13C content by quantitative isotopic 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometry: A pilot inter-laboratory study Original Research Article

Isotopic 13C NMR spectrometry, which is able to measure intra-molecular 13C composition, is of emerging demand because of the new information provided by the 13C site-specific content of a given molecule. A systematic evaluation of instrumental behaviour is of importance to envisage isotopic 13C NMR as a routine tool. This paper describes the first collaborative study of intra-molecular 13C composition by NMR. The main goals of the ring test were to establish intra- and inter-variability of the spectrometer response. Eight instruments with different configuration were retained for the exercise on the basis of a qualification test. Reproducibility at the natural abundance of isotopic 13C NMR was then assessed on vanillin from three different origins associated with specific δ 13Ci profiles. The standard deviation was, on average, between 0.9 and 1.2‰ for intra-variability. The highest standard deviation for inter-variability was 2.1‰. This is significantly higher than the internal precision but could be considered good in respect of a first ring test on a new analytical method. The standard deviation of δ 13Ci in vanillin was not homogeneous over the eight carbons, with no trend either for the carbon position or for the configuration of the spectrometer. However, since the repeatability for each instrument was satisfactory, correction factors for each carbon in vanillin could be calculated to harmonize the results.