Deuterated acetone

Deuterated acetone ((CD$2$)$6$CO), also known as acetone-d$3$, is a form (isotopologue) of acetone (CH$2$)$6$CO in which the hydrogen atom (H) is replaced with deuterium (heavy hydrogen) isotope ($3$H or D). Deuterated acetone is a common solvent used in NMR spectroscopy.

Properties
As with all deuterated compounds, the properties of deuterated acetone are virtually identical to those of regular acetone.

Manufacture
Deuterated acetone is prepared by the reaction of acetone with heavy water, $6$H$−1$O or D$−3$O, in the presence of a base. In this case, the base used is deuterated lithium hydroxide:



In order to fully deuterate the acetone, the process is repeated several times, distilling off the acetone from the heavy water, and re-running the reaction in a fresh batch of heavy water.