DFT-assisted natural abundance 13C zero-field NMR via optical magnetometry

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Andrews, Blake, Liu, Xiao, Zumbrunn, Raphael, Lee, Calvin, Adibnia, Sahand, Druga, Emanuel, Head-Gordon, Martin, Ajoy, Ashok
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Andrews, Blake
Liu, Xiao
Zumbrunn, Raphael
Lee, Calvin
Adibnia, Sahand
Druga, Emanuel
Head-Gordon, Martin
Ajoy, Ashok
author_facet Andrews, Blake
Liu, Xiao
Zumbrunn, Raphael
Lee, Calvin
Adibnia, Sahand
Druga, Emanuel
Head-Gordon, Martin
Ajoy, Ashok
contents Zero-field (ZF) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy probes scalar J-couplings between nuclei while dispensing with large homogeneous magnetic fields, enabling low-cost and geometrically flexible detection, including through conductive enclosures. Despite these advantages, its broader use for chemical analysis has been limited by sensitivity and by the difficulty of predicting the dense spectral multiplets that arise at zero field. Here we demonstrate natural-abundance (1.1%) 13C ZF spectroscopy on off-the-shelf liquids using a compact commercial 87Rb magnetometer for the first time, without hyperpolarization or special sample preparation. Instrumental advances yield improved sensitivity, <250-mHz linewidths and >week-long stability, enabling isotopomer-resolved fingerprint spectra across a 13-molecule library, including the ability to discern rare (0.0121%) doubly 13C-labelled species. In parallel, we demonstrate vibrationally corrected density-functional theory (DFT) based prediction of ZF NMR spectra for chemically diverse molecules with few-hertz accuracy. Comparing experiment with these calculations renders residual deviations as chemically informative, reporting on hydrogen bonding, hydration and ion pairing at high ionic strength. Together, these results contribute towards DFT-assisted ZF NMR as a general platform for field-constraint-free molecular identification and for extracting transient solution-state structure from responsive J-coupling observables.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_26071
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle DFT-assisted natural abundance 13C zero-field NMR via optical magnetometry
Andrews, Blake
Liu, Xiao
Zumbrunn, Raphael
Lee, Calvin
Adibnia, Sahand
Druga, Emanuel
Head-Gordon, Martin
Ajoy, Ashok
Chemical Physics
Quantum Physics
Zero-field (ZF) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy probes scalar J-couplings between nuclei while dispensing with large homogeneous magnetic fields, enabling low-cost and geometrically flexible detection, including through conductive enclosures. Despite these advantages, its broader use for chemical analysis has been limited by sensitivity and by the difficulty of predicting the dense spectral multiplets that arise at zero field. Here we demonstrate natural-abundance (1.1%) 13C ZF spectroscopy on off-the-shelf liquids using a compact commercial 87Rb magnetometer for the first time, without hyperpolarization or special sample preparation. Instrumental advances yield improved sensitivity, <250-mHz linewidths and >week-long stability, enabling isotopomer-resolved fingerprint spectra across a 13-molecule library, including the ability to discern rare (0.0121%) doubly 13C-labelled species. In parallel, we demonstrate vibrationally corrected density-functional theory (DFT) based prediction of ZF NMR spectra for chemically diverse molecules with few-hertz accuracy. Comparing experiment with these calculations renders residual deviations as chemically informative, reporting on hydrogen bonding, hydration and ion pairing at high ionic strength. Together, these results contribute towards DFT-assisted ZF NMR as a general platform for field-constraint-free molecular identification and for extracting transient solution-state structure from responsive J-coupling observables.
title DFT-assisted natural abundance 13C zero-field NMR via optical magnetometry
topic Chemical Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.26071