Application of automated eightfold suppression of water and ethanol signals in 1H NMR to provide sensitivity for analyzing alcoholic beverages

The 400 MHz H-1 NMR analysis of alcoholic beverages using standard pulse programs lacks the necessary sensitivity to detect minor constituents such as methanol, acetaldehyde or ethyl acetate. This study investigates the application of a shaped pulse sequence during the relaxation delay to suppress the eight 1H NMR frequencies of water and ethanol (the OH singlet of both water and ethanol, as well as the CH2 quartet and CH3 triplet of ethanol). The sequence of reference measurement for frequency determination followed by the suppression experiment is controlled by a macro in the acquisition software so that a measurement under full automation is possible (12 min per sample total time). Additionally, sample preparation was optimized to avoid precipitation, which is facilitated by 1 : 1 dilution with ethanol and pH 7.4 buffer. Compared with the standard water presaturation pulse program, the eightfold suppression allowed a significantly higher setting of receiver gain without receiver overflow, which significantly increased the signal-to-noise ratio by an average factor of 10. The signal intensities increased by a factor of 20. The resulting limits of detection (below 1 g/hl of pure alcohol) now allow the control of legal requirements for minor compounds in alcoholic beverages. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.