Interpreting and explaining the Carbon-13 NMR spectrum of ethylamine (ethanamine)

Students and teachers please note that my explanation of the carbon-13 NMR spectrum of ethylamine is designed for advanced, but pre-university, chemistry courses.

The description does not involve the chemical shift δ spin-spin coupling effects for ethylamine and the relative size of the carbon-13 NMR shifts does not give the ratio of the carbon atoms in the different non-equivalent chemical environments of the ethylamine molecule.

The most common solvent used for investigating the 13C NMR spectrum of compounds like ethylamine, is CDCl₃ and other deuterated solvents.

TMS is the acronym for tetramethylsilane, formula Si(CH₃)₄, whose ¹³C atoms are arbitrarily given a chemical shift of 0.0 ppm. This is the 'standard' in ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and all other ¹³C resonances, called chemical shifts, are measured with respect to the TMS, and depend on the individual (electronic) chemical environment of the ¹³C atoms in an organic molecule - ethylamine here.

Interpreting the C-13 NMR spectrum of ethylamine

As you can see from the diagram above there are 2 different ¹³C chemical shift lines in the C-13 NMR spectrum of ethylamine indicating 2 different chemical environments of the 2 carbon atoms of ethylamine.

CH₃CH₂NH₂

(Note the 2 different colours indicating the 2 different chemical environments of the 2 carbon atoms in ethylamine).

¹³C chemical shifts (a) to (b) on the C-13 NMR spectrum diagram for ethylamine.

The carbon-13 NMR spectra provides direct evidence of 2 different carbon atom environments for the 2 carbon atoms in the ethylamine molecule, deduced from the presence of 2 different 13C NMR chemical shifts (ppm).

Note the decreasing effect on the ¹³C chemical shift as the carbon atom is further from the more electronegative nitrogen atom in ethylamine.