From Percent to Permil: Requirements to Increase Accuracy of Quantitative NMR Measurements

Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) can determine the concentration of compounds in solution with remarkable trueness and precision, if the experimental conditions are chosen correctly. However, some users still have difficulty with the correct implementation of these requirements. Knowing which requirements are mandatory and which can be neglected for a given accuracy is one of the major problems. Failure to follow basic requirements s will lead to unreliable results. On the other hand, avoiding unnecessary constraints-for the desired level of trueness and/or precision-can save precious time. The aim of this tutorial is therefore to review in the second section the basic principles of quantitative NMR and explain the impact of different acquisition and processing conditions on trueness and precision. These general guidelines provide both precision and trueness of 1%. To reach 1‰, one has to optimize further their experimental conditions and consider the instrumental imperfections.