Deuterated DMSO

Deuterated DMSO, also known as dimethyl sulfoxide-d₆, is an isotopologue of dimethyl sulfoxide ) with chemical formula in which the hydrogen atoms are replaced with their deuterium isotope. Deuterated DMSO is a common solvent used in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Production

Deuterated DMSO is produced by heating DMSO in heavy water with a basic catalyst such as calcium oxide. The reaction does not give complete conversion to the d₆ product, and the water produced must be removed and replaced with D₂O several times to drive the equilibrium to the fully deuterated product.

Applications

NMR spectroscopy

DMSO is a good solvent for many organic compounds. Because deuterated DMSO does not contain any ^{1H atoms, it produces no peaks in ¹H-NMR and as a result is commonly used as a solvent for NMR experiments. Commercially available deuteriated DMSO is not isotopically pure. The residual DMSO-d₅ produces a ¹H-NMR signal observed at 2.50 ppm, which appears as a quintet. In ¹³C-NMR, the chemical shift of DMSO-d₆ is 39.52 ppm, and appears as a septet.
Trideuteromethyl donor
Deuterated DMSO is used as a reagent for the introduction of a trideuteromethyl group onto organic structures.}