CATO Contributes to the Release of National Standard for Determining Isotopic Abundance in Deuterated Reagents

April 25, 2025 – Guangzhou, China — The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) have officially released the national standard GB/T 45548-2025 Determination of Isotopic Abundance in Deuterated Reagents—Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy.

Led by the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry, the standard was jointly developed with the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Institute of Metrology, and other leading institutions, under the framework of the Shanghai Standardization Innovation Center (Stable Isotopes). CATO Research Chemicals Inc.(CATO), as one of the drafting organizations, played a key role in the process, drawing on its proven expertise in isotope analysis to support the standard’s formulation.

About the Standard

GB/T 45548-2025 applies to the determination of isotopic abundance in 21 types of deuterated reagents with a purity of ≥98%, including chloroform-d, dichloromethane-d₂, chlorobenzene-d₅, iodobenzene-d₅, bromobenzene-d₅, acetone-d₆, benzene-d₆, toluene-d₈, methanol-d₄, ethanol-d₆, heavy water, dimethyl sulfoxide-d₆, and others.

Technical Principles and Innovations

The method is based on the proportional relationship between the peak area in one-dimensional proton NMR spectra and the number of hydrogen atoms. By accurately measuring the peak area changes caused by the substitution of hydrogen atoms with deuterium atoms, the deuterium isotopic abundance can be calculated with high precision:

• Fully deuterated compounds: quantified using the internal standard method
• Partially deuterated compounds: quantified using the compound’s own non-deuterated sites as internal references

CATO was the first enterprise in China to use NMR equipment for both qualitative and quantitative testing of reference standards, establishing a robust NMR testing system that ensures product quality meets stringent technical requirements.

Industry Significance

The release of GB/T 45548-2025 provides a unified technical reference for determining isotopic abundance in deuterated reagents, promoting the standardization of isotope analysis techniques and accelerating the standardization and domestic substitution of deuterated reagents in China.

Leveraging this standard, CATO will offer compliant isotope abundance testing services and high-quality reference standards, delivering reliable technical support for customers across multiple sectors.

CATO’s Commitment to Innovation

As a technology leader in the stable isotope field, CATO remains committed to advancing industry standards and pioneering innovations. The company’s deuterium-labeled isotope reference materials are already widely used in pharmaceutical analysis and pharmacokinetics, clinical mass spectrometry, environmental testing, food testing, veterinary drug residue analysis, and pesticide residue detection—providing dependable technical solutions that meet the diverse analytical needs of various industries.

About CATO

CATO offers one of the most comprehensive product portfolios of isotope-labeled internal standards in the market, driving greater precision in analytical testing and supporting high-quality development in pharmaceutical R&D, food safety, environmental monitoring, and clinical diagnostics.