Isotopologue

relationship between molecules that differ only in isotopic composition

An isotopologue is a version of a molecule that contains specific isotopes of the elements in it.[1]

Examples

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Heavy water is an isotopologue of water. They have the same chemical formula, H2O, but with different isotopes of hydrogen. Heavy water contains deuterium, with one proton and one neutron, which is heavier than the normal hydrogen-1 isotope in "light" water, which only has a proton.

Heavy water is an example of a deuterated solvent. A deuterated solvent is an isotopologue of some solvent, like ethanol or hexane, where every hydrogen atom is the deuterium isotope. Deuterated solvents are used in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Sources

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  1. IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. (the "Gold Book") (2025). Online version: (2006) "Isotopologue". doi:10.1351/goldbook.I03351