C2H6O CH3OCH3 methoxymethane low high resolution 1H proton nmr spectrum of analysis interpretation of chemical shifts ppm spin spin line splitting H-1 dimethyl ether 1-H nmr explaining spin-spin coupling for line splitting doc brown's advanced organic chemistry revision notes

Advanced Organic Chemistry: 1H NMR spectrum of methoxymethane CH₃OCH₃

HOME PAGE * SEARCH * GCSE Level Chemistry age ~14-16 * Advanced Level Chemistry age ~16-19

Interpreting the 1H NMR spectrum of methoxymethane (dimethyl ether)

[Author © Dr Phil Brown PhD: Doc Brown's advanced level organic chemistry exam revision notes suitable for students of UK A level chemistry courses & US K12 grade 11, grade 12 and AP honors chemistry courses: Molecular spectroscopy analysis of methoxymethane [spectra page updated Mar 25th 2026 *]

email doc brown Re-edit 1H NMR spectrum of CH₃OCH₃

This is a BIG chemistry website, PLEASE take time to explore it

H-1 proton NMR spectroscopy - spectra index

Links associated with methoxymethane * [privacy policy, cookies and disclaimer]

Introductory note on the 1H NMR spectra of methoxymethane

Students and teachers please note my explanation of the proton NMR spectrum of methoxymethane is designed for advanced, but pre-university, chemistry courses.

The chemical shift δ splitting pattern effects for methoxymethane are confined to a proton spin-spin coupling effects analysed using the n+1 rule for adjacent non-equivalent proton fields (n is the number of neighbouring protons in a non-equivalent different chemical environment for the methoxymethane molecule).

It is assumed that the integrated intensities of the ¹H NMR δ chemical shifts give the ratio of the protons in the different non-equivalent chemical environments of the methoxymethane molecule.

The most common solvent used for investigating the 1H NMR spectrum of compounds like methoxymethane, is CDCl₃ and other deuterated solvents to avoid confusion with a ¹H NMR signal, ²D (²H) has a different NMR chemical shift.

C2H6O CH3OCH3 low and high resolution 1H proton nmr spectrum of methoxymethane analysis interpretation of chemical shifts ppm spin spin line splitting diagram H1 H-1 nmr for dimethyl ether explaining spin-spin coupling for line splitting doc brown's advanced organic chemistry revision notes

TMS is the acronym for tetramethylsilane, formula Si(CH₃)₄, whose protons are arbitrarily given a chemical shift of 0.0 ppm. This is the 'standard' in ¹H NMR spectroscopy and all other proton resonances, called chemical shifts, are measured with respect to the TMS, and depend on the individual (electronic) chemical environment of the hydrogen atoms in an organic molecule - methoxymethane here.

The chemical shifts quoted in ppm on the diagram of the H-1 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane represent the peaks of the intensity of the chemical shifts of (which are often groups of split lines at high resolution) AND the relative integrated areas under the peaks gives you the ratio of protons in the different chemical environments of the methoxymethane molecule (dimethyl ether).

Methoxymethane (dimethyl ether)

Revision notes on the structure and naming (nomenclature) of aliphatic ALCOHOLS and ETHERS

Interpreting the H-1 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane

In terms of spin-spin coupling from the possible proton magnetic orientations, for methoxymethane I have only considered the interactions of non-equivalent protons on adjacent carbon atoms e.g. -CH₂-CH₃, but this is not possible in methoxymethane.

For the low/high resolution H-1 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane there is only one chemical shift (a) at 3.24 ppm.

Therefore the 6 hydrogen atoms (protons) of methoxymethane occupy the same chemical environment (diagram above for methoxymethane).

CH₃OCH₃

The one colour indicates the equivalence of all 6 protons in the symmetrical methoxymethane molecule, so you see only one chemical shift and you would not expect any splitting of the chemical shift for the same reason.

The splitting pattern from proton spin-spin coupling effects is analysed using the n+1 rule for adjacent non-equivalent proton fields (n is the number of neighbouring protons in a non-equivalent different chemical environment).

Number of directly adjacent protons ¹H causing splitting	Splitting pattern produced from the n+1 rule on spin-spin coupling and the theoretical ratio of line intensities
0 means no splitting							1
1 creates a doublet						1		1
2 creates a triplet					1		2		1
3 creates a quartet				1		3		3		1
4 creates a quintet			1		4		6		4		1
5 creates a sextet		1		5		10		10		5		1
6 creates a septet	1		6		15		20		15		6		1

TOP OF PAGE

Comparing the infrared, mass, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectra of the 2 isomers of C₂H₆O NOTE: The images are linked to their original detailed spectral analysis pages AND can be doubled in size with touch screens to increase the definition to the original ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and methoxymethane (dimethyl ether) image sizes.

INFRARED SPECTRA: Apart from the significant differences in the fingerprint region at wavenumbers 1500 to 400 cm^-1, the most striking difference is the broad O-H stretching band ~3400 cm^-1, found in the infrared spectrum of alcohols, but absent in the infrared spectrum of ethers.

MASS SPECTRA: Both ethanol and methoxymethane show some similarities in their mass spectra, but their base ion peaks are quite different - for ethanol it is m/z 31 and for methoxymethane it is m/z 45.

1H NMR SPECTRA: The 1H NMR spectra of ethanol and methoxymethane are quite significantly different. Ethanol gives 3 peaks in the proton ratio 3:2:1 (3 different chemical environments), whereas methoxymethane only gives one ¹H chemical shift peak (all 6 protons in the same chemical environment). It is the symmetry of the methoxymethane molecule that results in the chemical equivalence of the methyl groups resulting in a single singlet peak in the 1hH NMR spectrum.

13C NMR SPECTRA: The 13C NMR spectra of ethanol and methoxymethane are different. Ethanol gives two ¹³C resonances, but methoxymethane only one (2 different ¹³C chemical environments and a ¹³C single chemical environment).

Key words & phrases: C2H6O CH3OCH3 Interpreting the proton H-1 NMR spectra of methoxymethane, low resolution & high resolution proton nmr spectra of methoxymethane, H-1 nmr spectrum of methoxymethane, understanding the hydrogen-1 nmr spectrum of methoxymethane, explaining the line splitting patterns from spin-spin coupling in the high resolution H-1 nmr spectra of methoxymethane, revising the H-1 nmr spectrum of methoxymethane, proton nmr of methoxymethane, ppm chemical shifts of the H-1 nmr spectrum of methoxymethane, explaining and analyzing spin spin line splitting in the H-1 nmr spectrum, how to construct the diagram of the H-1 nmr spectrum of methoxymethane, how to work out the number of chemically different protons in the structure of the methoxymethane organic molecule, how to analyse the chemical shifts in the hydrogen-1 H-1 proton NMR spectrum of methoxymethane using the n+1 rule to explain the spin - spin coupling ine splitting in the proton nmr spectrum of methoxymethane deducing the nature of the protons from the chemical shifts ppm in the H-1 nmr spectrum of methoxymethane examining the 1H nmr spectrum of methoxymethane analysing the 1-H nmr spectrum of methoxymethane how do you sketch and interpret the H-1 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane interpreting interpretation of the 1H proton spin-spin coupling causing line splitting in the NMR spectrum of methoxymethane assignment of chemical shifts in the proton 1H NMR spectrum of methoxymethane formula explaining lack of spin-spin coupling for line splitting of dimethyl ether How do you interpret the H-1 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane How to interpret the H-1 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane Explanatory diagram of the chemical shifts of the 1H H-1 proton NMR spectrum of the methoxymethane molecule in terms of its molecular structure. Listing data of all the chemical shift peaks in ppm in the proton NMR spectrum of methoxymethane. How to explain the H-1 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane. The chemical shifts and integrated values of the proton ratios in the 1-H NMR spectrum of the methoxymethane molecule. How to work out the molecular structure of the methoxymethane molecule from its proton NMR spectrum. The uses and distinctive features of the proton NMR spectrum of the methoxymethane molecule explained. What does the H-1 proton NMR spectrum chemical shifts tell us about the structure and properties of the methoxymethane molecule? explaining the spin-spin proton coupling effects in the 1H NMR spectrum of methoxymethane. interpretation diagram explaining the proton splitting pattern produced from the n+1 rule and the theoretical ratio of chemical shift δ and values of intensities for the proton NMR spectrum lines of methoxymethane

What next? links associated with methoxymethane

The infrared spectrum of methoxymethane (dimethyl ether)

The mass spectrum of methoxymethane (dimethyl ether)

The C-13 NMR spectrum of methoxymethane (dimethyl ether)

H-1 proton NMR spectroscopy index (Please read 8 points at the top of the ¹H NMR index page)

ALL SPECTROSCOPY INDEXES

All Advanced Organic Chemistry Notes

Use My Google search site box

Email doc b: chem55555@hotmail.com

Website content © Dr Phil Brown 2000+. All copyrights reserved on revision notes, images, quizzes, worksheets etc. Copying of Doc Brown's pre-university advanced level chemistry website material is NOT permitted. Exam revision summaries & references to science course specifications are unofficial. These organic chemistry revision notes on spectroscopy are suitable for use of pre-university students studying AQA advanced level chemistry, Edexcel advanced level chemistry, OCR advanced level chemistry, IB advanced level chemistry, WJEC (Eduqas) advanced level chemistry, CIE advanced level chemistry, CCEA advanced level chemistry, US grade 11-12 AP honors chemistry courses and they will also prove useful to 1st year undergraduate students of chemistry.