1H NMR of acetaldehyde

[theWUbear]

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In a Kaplan workshop the 1H NMR of acetaldehyde is shown, but there's no splitting of the peaks. When I googled it, indeed there were only two non-split peaks (see: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/chemistry/chem201woh/Image1477.gif), but I also found this site: http://www.tock.com/chem32/NMR1/ which shows the splitting as I assumed there would be (the peak of the lone H split into a quartet, the peak with the three H's split into a doublet).

Is the resolution to this conundrum that in theory they are split but the splitting is so minute that an actual NMR doesn't show splitting on a visual level? Or am I missing something?

 

[boaz]

Yes, it would be a 1H quartet and a 3H doublet. One just needs to "zoom in" on the peak to view the splitting. Modern instruments and computer programs do this very easily.

 

[furyhecla]

thanks so much! it is now 2 years after the OP and I had the same question. At first I thought I didn't understand the splitting issue. Now I realize it was just because of the resolution of the images.