Boron NMR without a background

Measuring ¹⁰B in the NMR spectra of solutions of boron compounds eliminates the troublesome background signals that are associated with ¹¹B, according to Peter Király from the Department of NMR Spectroscopy at the Chemical Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, writing in Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry. The effect was illustrated for a range of readily available inorganic and organic compounds and was attributed to the integer spin of ¹⁰B compared with the non-integral spin of ¹¹B.

Using ¹¹B DEPTH sequence experiments, efficient suppression of the background signals can be achieved, so there is little advantage in switching to ¹⁰B. However, ¹⁰B NMR gives better signal-to background ratios when background suppression is needed for relaxation broadened resonances.