160
Views
5
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Invited Article

Determination of the natural deuterium distribution of fatty acids by application of 2H 2D-NMR in liquid crystals: fundamentals, advances, around and beyond

ORCID Icon
Pages 1886-1910 | Received 20 Dec 2018, Published online: 03 Jun 2019
 

ABSTRACT

Based on pioneering work reported in the 1980s by Martin and co-workers, experimental investigation of the site-specific, natural (2H/1H) isotope fractionation in bioproducts by natural abundance deuterium 1D-NMR (NAD 1D-NMR) spectroscopy is the method of choice to understand the enzymatic mechanisms leading to their synthesis or transformation, but also to determine their geographical or botanical origins. This approach, known as 2H-SNIF-NMRTM method, is also an effective tool in the fight against the counterfeiting of molecules of economical interests. However, the use of achiral isotropic solvents has two significant disadvantages that reduce accessible isotopic information: a rate of overlap of signals generally too high for complex analytes and the absence of spectral discrimination of enantiotopic directions in prochiral compounds. Both drawbacks can be overcome by replacing liquid solvents with chiral liquid crystals (CLCs). In this review, we overview the theoretical basis and the analytical advantages of anisotropic NAD (ANAD) 2D-NMR using polypeptide-based, lyotropic CLCs as enantiodiscriminating ordered NMR solvents. We discuss how and why ANAD 2D-NMR can provide a robust alternative to the conventional method of determining isotopic ratios (2H/1H)i, particularly when applied to long-chain fatty acids or homogeneous triglycerides. Various applicative aspects are presented.

Graphical abstract

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: [Grant Number recurrent funding].

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.