Advanced Organic Chemistry: The 13C NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate CH3CH2COOCH3

HOME PAGE * SEARCH * GCSE Level Chemistry age ~14-16 * Advanced Level Chemistry age ~16-19

Interpreting and explaining the Carbon-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate (methyl propionate)

[Author © Dr Phil Brown PhD: Doc Brown's advanced level organic chemistry exam revision notes suitable for students of UK A level chemistry courses & US K12 grade 11, grade 12 and AP honors chemistry courses: Molecular spectroscopy - analysing the 13C NMR spectra of methyl propanoate [spectra page updated April 4th 2026 *]

 email doc brown Re-edit 13C NMR spectrum of CH3CH2COOCH3

 Links associated with methyl propanoate  *  [privacy policy, cookies and disclaimer]

 This is a BIG chemistry website, PLEASE take time to explore it

 C-13 NMR spectroscopy - spectra index


Introductory note on the 13C NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate

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

The description does not involve the chemical shift δ spin-spin coupling effects for methyl propanoate 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 methyl propanoate molecule.

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

13C nmr spectrum of methyl propanoate C4H8O2 CH3CH2COOCH3 analysis of chemical shifts ppm interpretation of C-13 chemical shifts ppm of methyl propionate C13 13-C nmr doc brown's advanced organic chemistry revision notes 

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 - methyl propanoate here.

Methyl propanoate   (methyl propionate)   (c) doc b   (c) doc b   (c) doc b

an ester The molecular structure and naming of carboxylic acids and derivatives

Interpreting the C-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate

As you can see from the diagram above there are 4 different 13C chemical shift lines in the C-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate indicating 4 different chemical environments of the 4 carbon atoms of methyl propanoate.

CH3CH2COOCH3

(Note the 4 different colours indicating the 4 different chemical environments of the 4 carbon atoms in methyl propanoate).

13C chemical shifts (a) to (d) on the C-13 NMR spectrum diagram for methyl propanoate.

Note the decreasing effect on the 13C chemical shift as the carbon atom is further from the more electronegative oxygen atoms in methyl propanoate.

The carbon-13 NMR spectra provides direct evidence of 4 different carbon atom environments for the 4 carbon atoms in the methyl propanoate molecule, deduced from the presence of 4 different 13C NMR chemical shifts (ppm)


Key words & phrases: C4H8O2 CH3CH2COOCH3 Interpreting the C-13 NMR spectra of methyl propanoate, C-13 nmr spectrum of methyl propanoate, understanding the carbon-13 nmr spectrum of methyl propanoate, explaining the line pattern in the high resolution C-13 nmr spectra of methyl propanoate, revising the C-13 nmr spectrum of methyl propanoate, ppm chemical shifts of the C-13 nmr spectrum of methyl propanoate, how to construct the diagram of the C-13 nmr spectrum of methyl propanoate, how to analyse the chemical shifts in the carbon-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate deducing the chemical environment of all the carbon atoms in methyl propanoate examining the c13 nmr spectrum of  methyl propanoate analysing the 13-c nmr spectrum of methyl propanoate how do you sketch and interpret the C-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate interpreting interpretation of the C-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate assignment of chemical shifts in the 13C NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate methyl propionate ester functional group How do you interpret the chemical shifts of the C-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate How to interpret the C-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate Explanatory diagram of the 13C C-13 carbon-13 NMR spectrum of the  number of different carbon atom environments in the methyl propanoate molecule from its carbon-13 NMR spectrum to help work out the molecular structure of the methyl propanoate molecule? The uses and distinctive features of the carbon-13 NMR spectrum of the methyl propanoate molecule explained. What do the number and values of the chemical shifts from the c-13 carbon-13 NMR spectrum tell us about the methyl propanoate molecule? explaining the decoupled carbon-13 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate  with a detailed interpretation diagram of all the C-13 chemical shifts and intensities


Links associated with methyl propanoate

The infrared spectrum of methyl propanoate (methyl propionate)

The mass spectrum of methyl propanoate (methyl propionate)

The H-1 NMR spectrum of methyl propanoate (methyl propionate)

The chemistry of CARBOXYLIC ACIDS and DERIVATIVES revision notes INDEX

C-13 NMR spectroscopy index

ALL SPECTROSCOPY INDEXES

All Advanced Organic Chemistry Notes

Use My Google search site box

Email doc b: chem55555@hotmail.com


Website content © Dr Phil Brown 2000+. All copyrights reserved on revision notes, images, quizzes, worksheets etc. Copying of Doc Brown's pre-university advanced level chemistry website material is NOT permitted. Exam revision summaries & references to science course specifications are unofficial. These organic chemistry revision notes on spectroscopy (13C NMR spectra of methyl propanoate) are suitable for use of pre-university students studying AQA advanced level chemistry, Edexcel advanced level chemistry, OCR advanced level chemistry, IB advanced level chemistry, WJEC (Eduqas) advanced level chemistry, CIE advanced level chemistry, CCEA advanced level chemistry, US grade 11-12 AP honors chemistry courses and they will also prove useful to 1st year undergraduate students of chemistry.

TOP OF PAGE