High resolution 13C DOSY: the DEPTSE experiment

High Resolution Diffusion-ordered Spectroscopy (HR-DOSY) is a valuable tool for mixture analysis by NMR. It separates the signals from different components according to their diffusion behavior, and can provide exquisite diffusion resolution when there is no signal overlap. In HR-DOSY experiments on (1)H (by far the most common nucleus used for DOSY) there is frequent signal overlap that confuses interpretation. In contrast, a (13)C spectrum usually has little overlap, and is in this respect a much better option for a DOSY experiment. The low signal-to-noise ratio is a critical limiting factor, but with recent technical advances such as cryogenic probes this problem is now less acute. The most widely-used pulse sequences for (13)C DOSY perform diffusion encoding with (1)H, using a stimulated echo in which half of the signal is lost. This signal loss can be avoided by encoding diffusion with (13)C in a spin echo experiment such as the DEPTSE pulse sequence described here.