NMR active nuclei (group 14 elements)

  Table below lists NMR active nuclei for the group 14 elements. Although the isotopic abundance of ¹³C is only 1.1%, use of ¹³C NMR spectroscopy is very important. The low abundance means that, unless a sample is isotopically enriched, satellite peaks in, for example, a ¹H NMR spectrum, will not be observed and application of ¹³C as an NMR active nucleus lies in its direct observation. The appearance of satellite peaks due to coupling of an observed nucleus such as 1H to ²⁹Si or ¹¹⁹Sn is diagnostic.

Direct observation of ²⁹Si nuclei is a routine means of characterizing Si-containing compounds. Tin-119 NMR spectroscopy (¹¹⁹Sn being generally favoured over ¹¹⁷Sn for direct observation) is also valuable; the chemical shift range is large and, as with many heteronuclei, δ values may provide an indication of coordination environments.