ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the historical contributions of scientists that led to the development of and advances in mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. It identifies the functions of the components of a mass spectrometer and explains electron impact ionization and chemical ionization. The chapter aims to understand the key features of and how to interpret a mass spectrum and shows how an NMR spectrometer works. It describes how to interpret a proton NMR spectrum and also shows how to interpret a carbon NMR spectrum. The chapter also explains the use of mass spectra and NMR spectra in chemical analysis. NMR spectroscopy is a nondestructive tool that can be used to determine the chemical structure of drugs, metabolites, small molecule and protein toxins, explosives, and other molecules ab initio. Hydrogen atoms in the same environment give the same NMR signals stack to yield a higher-intensity peak while hydrogen atoms in different environments give rise to different NMR signals.
