Study on potassium iso-propylxanthate and its decomposition products: experimental 13C CP/MAS NMR combined with DFT calculations.

Solid-state (13)C NMR is believed to be a valuable tool for studying adsorption and speciation of xanthates on sulfide mineral surfaces, but to do that, model compounds of possible xanthate species need to be investigated. (13)C NMR chemical shift tensors for molecular fragments of potassium iso-propylxanthate and six of its decomposition products have been determined by combining DFT calculations and (13)C CP/MAS NMR experiments. DFT calculations were performed in NWChem using GIAO method for the NMR shielding tensor calculations. The results of the calculations are in good agreement with experimental data. In the -XCYZ moiety (X, Y, Z = O, S), the more sulfur atoms, the more deshielded the chemical shift becomes and the larger the span of the chemical shift tensor. The δ11 principal value has the largest influence on the span, decreasing when the number of sulfur atoms decreases and the number of oxygen atoms increases. The significant differences in chemical shifts make it possible to distinguish between different species and, hence, in future studies, interpret surface speciation. The tensor parameters can also aid in the interpretation.