Abstract
The use of 2H NMR spectroscopy as a detector for HPLC has been investigated using the continuous flow method
in which rat urine containing metabolites of N-dimethylformamide-d7 was employed as a test case. Three xenobioticrelated
species, including DMF-d 7 itself, were detected. It is shown that for small molecules which give relatively
sharp 2H NMR resonances, 2H HPLC-NMR spectroscopy is a feasible technique. For larger molecules, the resulting
broad lines are likely to preclude the determination of detailed structural information, However, extension of the
approach is possible by the use of selectively 2H-labelled xenobiotics to determine HPLC retention times of
metabolites with continuous-flow 2H NMR spectroscopy detection, followed by stop-flow ~H HPLC-NMR spectroscopy
for structural characterisation.