A simple method to determine the water content in organic solvents using the 1H NMR chemical shifts differences between water and solvent

A simple and general method which relies on chemical shift difference between water and solvent peaks in H-1 NMR spectroscopy has been developed for the determination of water content in organic solvent. As the water content is increased, the water proton peak is shifted to down-field because the water is involved in the more hydrogen bonding. The linear relation between water content and chemical shift difference was used to assess the water content in organic solvent. The intrinsic water and solvent proton peak was used, thus no additional reagents was necessary. The developed method has been applied to six organic solvents having various chemical properties. Furthermore, temperature effect was investigated and correction factor was evaluated. We propose that this new method will be useful for wide range of applications requiring accurate and convenient assessment of water content in organic solvents. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.