A new experimental absolute nuclear magnetic shielding scale for oxygen based on the rotational hyperfine structure of H(2)(17)O.

The hyperfine structure in the rotational spectrum of water containing (17)O has been investigated experimentally and by means of quantum-chemical calculations. The Lamb-dip technique has been used to resolve the hyperfine structure due to spin-rotation as well as spin-spin interactions and allowed the determination of the corresponding hyperfine parameters with high accuracy. The experimental investigation and, in particular, the analysis of the spectra have been supported by quantum-chemical computations at the coupled-cluster level. The experimental (17)O isotropic spin-rotation constant of H(2)(17)O has been used in a further step for the determination of the paramagnetic part of the corresponding nuclear magnetic shielding constant, whereas the diamagnetic contribution as well as vibrational and temperature corrections have been obtained from quantum-chemical calculations. This joint procedure leads to a value of 325.3(3) ppm for the oxygen shielding in H(2)(17)O at 300 K, in good agreement with pure theoretical predictions, and in this way provides the basis for a new absolute oxygen shielding scale.