"Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy depends on the absorption of energy when the nucleus of an atom is excited from its lowest energy spin state to the next higher one. The nuclei of several elements can be studied by NMR. The two elements that are the most common in organic molecules (carbon and hydrogen) have isotopes (1H and 13C) capable of giving NMR spectra that are rich in structural information. A proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectrum tells us about the environments of the various hydrogens in a molecule; a carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) spectrum does the same for the carbon atoms. Separately and together 1H and 13C NMR take us a long way toward determining a substance’s molecular structure. We’ll develop most of the general principles of NMR by discussing 1H NMR, then extend them to 13C NMR. The 13C NMR discussion is shorter, not because it is less important than 1H NMR, but because many of the same principles apply to both techniques."