H detection for an equal number of nuclei, the relative sensitivity of 15 N is 0.00194; relative to 13 C at natural isotopic abundance, the relative sensitivity is 0.0214. 8 These attributes conspire to make measuring times long and sample requirements rather high, with larger diameter tubes preferable. When we consider X-nucleus excitation and detection, and compare 1 H/ 13 C correlation experiments to 1 H/ 15 N the time to attain equal s/n ratios is ~100 times longer for 1 H/ 15 N than for 1 H/ 13 C. Consequently, there is a relatively rich body of literature involving 1 H/ 13 C heteronuclear correlation with 13 C detection while there is virtually none for the 1 H/ 15 N heteronuclide pair. When we consider 1 H excitation and X-nucleus detection, the disadvantage for 1 H/ 15 N relative to 1 H/ 13 C drops to a factor of 15.6. When we compare these methods to contemporary 1 H excitation and detection, the disadvantage is erased. 17 Consequently, there is a rich and growing body of applications of both direct and long-range 1 H-15 N heteronuclear shift correlation in chemical structure elucidation. [1][2][3][4]
Spectrometer and Probe ConsiderationsIf an investigator has a choice of instruments on which to acquire 1 H-15 N heteronuclear shift correlation data, it is usually beneficial to use higher field instruments up to a point. 15 N has a very wide spectral range comprising more than 900 ppm from one extreme to the other. More practically, the spectral range for a given compound is usually <500 ppm and in most cases is in the range of 300-350 ppm or less for natural products containing both aromatic and aliphatic 15 N resonances. Going from 400-500 MHz instruments to higher field instruments, perhaps 700-800 MHz, affords higher sensitivity but as the spectral width to be excited increases with observation frequency, so