Monitoring the synthetic procedures of commercial drugs by 2H NMR spectroscopy: The case of ibuprofen and naproxen

We determined the D/H isotope ratios of some ibuprofen and naproxen samples by 2H NMR spectroscopy. Some of these values were found to be useful for collecting hints on the synthetic procedures employed to prepare these drugs. Site-specific isotope ratio analysis shows great potentials in the fight against patent infringement.