17O NMR spectroscopy: Proton–oxygen coupling in simple alcohols at natural abundance†

17O NMR data are reported for 3-pentanol (1), cyclopentanol (2), cyclohexanol (3), and cycloheptanol (4). The 17O NMR signals for 1–4 appeared as doublets, shown to arise from proton–oxygen coupling (1JOH = 76 ± 3 Hz) by proton decoupling experiments. The effect of concentration, temperature, and solvent was examined in detail for 2. Proton—oxygen coupling was observed at low concentrations, decreased at lower temperatures, and was sensitive to solvent.