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Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for life, an innate constituent of soil organic matter, and a major anthropogenic input to terrestrial ecosystems. The supply of P to living organisms is strongly dependent on the dynamics of soil organic P. However, fluxes of P through soil organic matter remain unclear because only a minority (typically <30%) of soil organic P has been identified as recognizable biomolecules of low molecular weight (e.g., inositol hexakisphosphates). Here, we use (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the speciation of organic P in soil extracts fractionated into two molecular weight ranges. Speciation of organic P in the high molecular weight fraction (>10 kDa) was markedly different to that of the low molecular weight fraction (<10 kDa). The former was dominated by a broad peak, which is consistent with P bound by phosphomonoester linkages of supra-/macro-molecular structures, whereas the latter contained all of the sharp peaks that were present in unfractionated extracts, along with some broad signal. Overall, phosphomonoesters in supra-/macro-molecular structures were found to account for the majority (61% to 73%) of soil organic P across the five diverse soils. These soil phosphomonoesters will need to be integrated within current models of the inorganic-organic P cycle of soil-plant terrestrial ecosystems.

Solution (31)P NMR analysis following extraction with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is the most widely used method for detailed characterization of soil organic P. However, quantitative analysis of the (31)P NMR spectra is complicated by severe spectral overlap in the monoester region. Various deconvolution procedures have been developed for the task, yet none of these are widely accepted or implemented. In this mini-review, we first describe and compare these varying approaches. We then review approaches to similar issues of spectral overlap in biomedical science applications including NMR-based metabolic profiling and analyzing (31)P magnetic resonance spectra of ex vivo and in vivo intact tissues. The greater maturity and resourcing of this biomedical research means that a wider variety of approaches has been developed. Of particular relevance are approaches to dealing with overlap of broad and sharp signals. Although the existence of this problem is still debated in the context of soil analyses, not only is it well-recognized in biomedical applications, but multiple approaches have been developed to deal with it, including T2 editing and time-domain fitting. Perhaps the most transferable concept is the incorporation of 'prior knowledge' in the fitting of spectra. This is well established in biomedical applications but barely touched in soil analyses. We argue that shortcuts to dealing with overlap in the monoester region (31)P NMR soil spectra are likely to be found in the biomedical literature, although some degree of adaptation will be necessary., (Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

At physiological maturity, nutrients in crop residues can be released to the soil where they are incorporated into different labile and non-labile pools while the remainder is retained within the residue itself. The chemical speciation of phosphorus (P) in crop residues is an important determinant of the fate of this P. In this study, we used chemical fractionation and (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, first separately and then together, to evaluate the P speciation of mature oat (Avena sativa) residue. Two water extracts (one employing shaking and the other sonication) and two acid extracts (0.2N perchloric acid and 10% trichloroacetic acid) of these residues contained similar concentrations of orthophosphate (molybdate-reactive P determined by colorimetry) as NaOH-EDTA extracts of whole plant material subsequently analysed by solution (31)P NMR spectroscopy. However, solution (31)P NMR analysis of the extracts and residues isolated during the water/acid extractions indicated that this similarity resulted from a fortuitous coincidence as the orthophosphate concentration in the water/acid extracts was increased by the hydrolysis of pyrophosphate and organic P forms while at the same time there was incomplete extraction of orthophosphate. Confirmation of this was the absence of pyrophosphate in both water and acid fractions (it was detected in the whole plant material) and the finding that speciation of organic P in the fractions differed from that in the whole plant material. Evidence for incomplete extraction of orthophosphate was the finding that most of the residual P in the crop residues following water/acid extractions was detected as orthophosphate using (31)P NMR. Two methods for isolating and quantifying phospholipid P were also tested, based on solubility in ethanol:ether and ethanol:ether:chloroform. While these methods were selective and appeared to extract only phospholipid P, they did not extract all phospholipid P, as some was detected by NMR in the crop residue after extraction. These results highlight the need for careful interpretation of results from chemical fractionation, as separation can be compromised by incomplete recovery and side reactions. This study also highlights the benefits of employing a technique that can simultaneously detect multiple P species (solution (31)P NMR) in combination with chemical fractionation., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Organic matter has long been recognized as the main sorbent phase in soils for hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs). In recent times, there has been an increasing realization that not only the amount, but also the chemical composition, of organic matter can influence the sorption properties of a soil. Here, we show that the organic carbon-normalized sorption coefficient (K(OC)) for diuron is 27-81% higher in 10 A11 horizons than in 10 matching A12 horizons for soils collected from a small (2ha) field. K(OC) was generally greater for the deeper (B) horizons, although these values may be inflated by sorption of diuron to clays. Organic matter chemistry of the A11 and A12 horizons was determined using solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. K(OC) was positively correlated with aryl C (r2=0.59, significance level 0.001) and negatively correlated with O-alkyl C (r2=0.84, significance level <0.001). This is only the second report of correlations between whole soil K(OC) and NMR-derived measures of organic matter chemistry. We suggest that this success may be a consequence of limiting this study to a very small area (a single field). There is growing evidence that interactions between organic matter and clay minerals strongly affect K(OC). However, because the soil mineralogy varies little across the field, the influence of these interactions is greatly diminished, allowing the effect of organic matter chemistry on K(OC) to be seen clearly. This study in some way reconciles studies that show strong correlations between K(OC) and the chemistry of purified organic materials and the general lack of such correlations for whole soils.

Five type II kerogens, shown by elemental analysis and Rock-Eval pyrolysis to represent a gradient of thermal maturity, were further characterized using a range of solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopic techniques. 13C cross polarization (CP) NMR spectra of the kerogens confirmed the well-established pattern of increasing aromaticity with increasing thermal maturity. Spin counting showed that CP observability was around 50% for the immature kerogens, and only 14-25% for the mature kerogens. Spin counting also showed that the direct polarization (DP) observabilities were >80% for all but one of the kerogens. Despite the large differences in observability between the two techniques, aromaticities derived from corresponding CP and DP spectra differed by only 1-15%. The RESTORE technique showed that the low CP observability of the immature kerogens was due mostly to rapid T(1rho)H relaxation, whereas both rapid T(1rho)H relaxation and slow polarization transfer contributed to the low CP observability of the mature kerogens.

Two novel solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques, PSRE (proton spin relaxation editing) and RESTORE [Restoration of Spectra via T(CH) and T(1rho)H (T One Rho H) Editing], were used to provide detailed chemical characterization of the organic matter from six Australian sewage sludges. These methods were used to probe the submicrometer heterogeneity of sludge organic matter, and identify and quantify spatially distinct components. Analysis of the T1H relaxation behavior of the sludges indicated that each sludge contained two types of organic domains. Carbon-13 PSRE NMR subspectra were generated to determine the chemical nature of these domains. The rapidly relaxing component of each sludge was rich in protein and alkyl carbon, and was identified as dead bacterial material. The slowly relaxing component of each sludge was rich in carbohydrate and lignin structures, and was identified as partly degraded plant material. The bacterial domains were shown, using the RESTORE technique, to also have characteristically rapid T(1rho)H relaxation rates. This rapid T(1rho)H relaxation was identified as the main cause of underrepresentation of these domains in standard 13C cross polarization (CP) NMR spectra of sludges. The heterogeneous nature of sewage sludge organic matter has implications for land application of sewage sludge, since the two components are likely to have different capacities for sorbing organic and inorganic toxicants present in sewage sludge, and will decompose at different rates.

The impact of inefficient cross polarization (long TCH values), caused by long 13C-1H internuclear distances, on 13C CPMAS NMR spectra of charred and uncharred woods is determined by simultaneously fitting data from complementary variable spin lock and variable contact time experiments. As expected, the impact is minimal for uncharred woods, but is very significant for the charred woods. Quantification of the decrease in CPMAS signal intensity caused by both inefficient cross polarization and rapid T1rhoH relaxation is achieved using an advanced spin counting methodology, for which the term "spin accounting" is proposed. 13C CPMAS NMR observabilities determined using the spin accounting methodology were close to 100% for the uncharred samples, and 69-82% for the charred samples. This represents a large improvement on the 30-40% observabilities determined using other spin counting techniques. Furthermore, it is shown that remote protonation and rapid T1rhoH relaxation are roughly equally responsible for the low signal intensity of standard (I ms contact time) 13C CPMAS spectra of charcoal.

The performance of three different techniques for determining proton rotating frame relaxation rates (T1rhoH) in charred and uncharred woods is compared. The variable contact time (VCT) experiment is shown to over-estimate T1rhoH. particularly for the charred samples, due to the presence of slowly cross-polarizing 13C nuclei. The variable spin (VSL) or delayed contact experiment is shown to overcome these problems; however, care is needed in the analysis to ensure rapidly relaxing components are not overlooked. T1rhoH is shown to be non-uniform for both charred and uncharred wood samples; a rapidly relaxing component (T1rhoH = 0.46-1.07 ms) and a slowly relaxing component (T1rhoH = 3.58-7.49) is detected in each sample. T1rhoH for each component generally decreases with heating temperature (degree of charring) and the proportion of rapidly relaxing component increases. Direct T1rhoH determination (via 1H detection) shows that all samples contain an even faster relaxing component (0.09-0.24 ms) that is virtually undetectable by the indirect (VCT and VSL) techniques. A new method for correcting for T1rhoH signal losses in spin counting experiments is developed to deal with the rapidly relaxing component detected in the VSL experiment. Implementation of this correction increased the proportion of potential 13C CPMAS NMR signal that can be accounted for by up to 50% for the charred samples. An even greater proportion of potential signal can be accounted for if the very rapidly relaxing component detected in the direct T1rhoH determination is included; however, it must be kept in mind that this experiment also detects 1H pools which may not be involved in 1H-13C cross-polarization.

The effects of paramagnetic species on solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra were quantified in a series of doping experiments. The degree of signal loss caused by paramagnetic metals was shown to depend not only on the quantity, but also on the nature of the paramagnetic species, as well as the intimacy of contact with the organic substrate and the type of NMR experiment. Two mechanisms of signal loss were distinguished--signal loss via loss of magnetic field homogeneity, which affects all 13C nuclei in a sample, and signal loss via interaction between electronic and nuclear spins, the effects of which were localized to the close environment of the paramagnetic species. Loss of field homogeneity is important for manganese species, but not for copper species, and is equally important for both cross polarization and Bloch decay experiments. The interaction between electronic and nuclear spins is highly dependent on the spin-lattice relaxation rate constant of the free electron (T1e), as cations with very short T1e values (e.g., Pr3+) cause less signal loss than cations with longer T1e values (e.g., Cu2+, Mn2+). Cross polarization spectra are shown to be more susceptible than Bloch decay spectra to this mechanism of signal loss. Signal loss and increased relaxation rates brought about by paramagnetic species can be used to provide information on soil organic matter (SOM) heterogeneity in the submicron range. This is demonstrated for SOM doped with paramagnetic cations where selective signal loss and increased relaxation rates are used to determine the nature of cation exchange sites.

13C background signal, obtained for an empty rotor, was shown by spin counting experiments to be equivalent to 1 mg of observable carbon for cross-polarization (CP) spectra and 69 mg of observable C for Bloch decay (BD) spectra. The BD background was mainly due to Kel-F in the stator. with minimal signal detected from the Kel-F end-caps. The CP background was attributed to non-Kel-F components of the stator, probe, or probe supports. The BD background signal was eliminated by using a modified dipolar dephasing pulse sequence in which the absence of 19F decoupling (rather than the absence of 1H decoupling) causes selective elimination of the Kel-F signal.