13C NMR: Proton Decoupling Made Simple

13C NMR spectra often need proton decoupling to make carbon signals easier to read. Carbon-13 is naturally rare, so two 13C atoms next to each other are very unlikely. That means carbon-carbon spin-spin splitting is usually not seen in the spectrum.

Protons, however, can still split a carbon sign...

The low natural abundance of carbon-13 results in a negligible probability of there being two adjacent carbon-13 atoms, practically eliminating carbon–carbon J-coupling.

However, neighboring protons split the carbon signal according to the n+1 rule.

These complex signals are simplified by the broadband proton deco...