For the fourth in the analytical chemistry series, we turn to mass spectrometry. So far, we’ve looked at how chemists can determine the presence of particular bonds present in molecules with infrared spectroscopy, and how they can gain information about the structure of molecules using hydrogen and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance. Mass spectrometry allows us to measure the masses of atoms and molecules, and also obtain information about their chemical structure.
In previous entries in the Analytical Chemistry series of graphics, we’ve looked at some of the tools that chemists can use to determine the identity of compounds in various samples, including infrared spectroscopy and hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Today looks another similar method, that of carbon NMR; the graphic provides some general information on interpreting the resultant spectra, whilst we’ll briefly discuss how these signals are created below.
