Quantitative 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in the Analysis of Commercial Cannabidiol Oils; Procedural Optimization, Compound Identification, and Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

Derived from the hemp plant or Cannabis Sativa, cannabidiol (CBD) can now be found throughout markets worldwide. Its varying legality and regulation in different parts of the world has spurred the formation of underground markets, and thus the creation of less legitimate and potentially dangerous forms of CBD products that may contain synthetics, unwanted organic compounds, and metals. Current regulations regarding CBD product quality control are inconsistent and often overlook the existence of harmful substances. Moreover, any existing methodologies utilized by those in industrialized hemp businesses in order to conduct quality control span a number of procedures that are generally expensive, largely ineffective, and uneconomically time-consuming among other setbacks. Quantitative 13C-NMR is a useful technique that can accurately and consistently identify organic compounds yet is currently undervalued in CBD product testing; current literature has not yet explored the utilization of quantitative 13C-NMR for CBD product analysis. The following research demonstrates that quantitative 13C-NMR would be advantageous to the CBD industry. It produces clear, comprehensible spectra that successfully identifies molecular constituents within CBD oil samples and determines their relative concentrations. 13C-NMR functions effectively to note continuities and discrepancies between similar and unalike CBD oils while requiring little manipulation of ready-made oil samples. It also manages to expose the substantial relative concentrations of carrier oils compared to underwhelming amounts of CBD within sampled CBD oil products, suggesting extensive mislabeling across many commercial consumer oils. I will restrict the scope of this discussion to CBD products within the United States.