¹⁷O NMR spectroscopy of transition metal carbonyls

NMR spectra of ¹⁷O in natural abundance have been obtained for a range of metal carbonyls. Linewidths of less than 10 Hz for the derivatives of Cr, Mo, W and Fe have been observed, although they are slightly larger for the derivatives of metals having an electric quadrupole moment. Comparison with the corresponding ¹³C NMR data shows that: (i) the chemical shift ranges are comparable, (ii) the ordering of chemical shifts is not very different, (iii) the linewidths are more favourable for ¹⁷O than ¹³C for some Mn and Co derivatives and allow an extension of the range of temperature in which information on the fluxional dynamics are obtainable in the rapid exchange limit.