Carbon-13 (
13C) is a natural,
stable isotope
The term stable isotope has a meaning similar to stable nuclide, but is preferably used when speaking of nuclides of a specific element. Hence, the plural form stable isotopes usually refers to isotopes of the same element. The relative abundanc ...
of
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes ...
with a
nucleus
Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to:
*Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom
* Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA
Nucl ...
containing six
protons
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron m ...
and seven
neutrons
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beha ...
. As one of the
environmental isotopes, it makes up about 1.1% of all natural carbon on Earth.
Detection by mass spectrometry
A
mass spectrum of an organic compound will usually contain a small peak of one mass unit greater than the apparent molecular ion peak (M) of the whole molecule. This is known as the M+1 peak and comes from the few molecules that contain a
13C atom in place of a
12C. A molecule containing one carbon atom will be expected to have an M+1 peak of approximately 1.1% of the size of the M peak, as 1.1% of the molecules will have a
13C rather than a
12C. Similarly, a molecule containing two carbon atoms will be expected to have an M+1 peak of approximately 2.2% of the size of the M peak, as there is double the previous likelihood that any molecule will contain a
13C atom.
In the above, the mathematics and chemistry have been simplified, however it can be used effectively to give the number of carbon atoms for small- to medium-sized organic molecules. In the following formula the result should be rounded to the nearest
integer
An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign ( −1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the language ...
:
where ''C'' = number of C atoms, ''X'' =
amplitude
The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of a ...
of the M ion peak, and ''Y'' = amplitude of the M +1 ion peak.
13C-enriched compounds are used in the research of metabolic processes by means of mass spectrometry. Such compounds are safe because they are non-radioactive. In addition,
13C is used to quantify proteins (quantitative
proteomics
Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, with many functions such as the formation of structural fibers of muscle tissue, enzymatic digestion of food, or synthesis and replication of DNA. In ...
). One important application is in
stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC).
13C-enriched compounds are used in medical diagnostic tests such as the
urea breath test. Analysis in these tests is usually of the ratio of
13C to
12C by
isotope ratio mass spectrometry
Isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) is a specialization of mass spectrometry, in which mass spectrometric methods are used to measure the relative abundance of isotopes in a given sample.
This technique has two different applications in the e ...
.
The ratio of
13C to
12C is slightly higher in plants employing
C4 carbon fixation than in plants employing
C3 carbon fixation
carbon fixation is the most common of three metabolic pathways for carbon fixation in photosynthesis, along with and CAM. This process converts carbon dioxide and ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP, a 5-carbon sugar) into two molecules of 3-phos ...
. Because the different isotope ratios for the two kinds of plants propagate through the food chain, it is possible to determine if the principal diet of a human or other animal consists primarily of C3 plants or C4 plants by measuring the
isotopic signature of their collagen and other tissues. Deliberate increase of proportion of
13C in diet is the concept of
i-food, a proposed way to increase
longevity
The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...
.
Uses in science
Due to differential uptake in plants as well as marine carbonates of
13C, it is possible to use these isotopic signatures in earth science. Biological processes preferentially take up the lower mass isotope through
kinetic fractionation. In aqueous geochemistry, by analyzing the
δ13C value of carbonaceous material found in surface and ground waters, the source of the water can be identified. This is because atmospheric, carbonate, and plant derived δ
13C values all differ. In biology, the ratio of carbon-13 and carbon-12 isotopes in plant tissues is different depending on the type of plant photosynthesis and this can be used, for example, to determine which types of plants were consumed by animals. Greater carbon-13 concentrations indicate
stomatal limitations, which can provide information on plant behaviour during drought. Tree ring analysis of carbon isotopes can be used to retrospectively understand forest photosynthesis and how it is impacted by drought.
In geology, the
13C/
12C ratio is used to identify the layer in sedimentary rock created at the time of the
Permian extinction 252 Mya when the ratio changed abruptly by 1%. More information about usage of
13C/
12C ratio in science can be found in the article about
isotopic signatures.
Carbon-13 has a non-zero spin quantum number of ½, and hence allows the structure of carbon-containing substances to be investigated using
carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance.
The carbon-13 urea breath test is a safe and highly accurate diagnostic tool to detect the presence of ''
Helicobacter pylori
''Helicobacter pylori'', previously known as ''Campylobacter pylori'', is a gram-negative, microaerophilic, spiral (helical) bacterium usually found in the stomach. Its helical shape (from which the genus name, helicobacter, derives) is th ...
'' infection in the stomach.
The urea breath test utilizing carbon-13 is preferred to carbon-14 for certain vulnerable populations due to its non-radioactive nature.
[
]
Production
Bulk carbon-13 for commercial use, e.g. in chemical synthesis, is enriched from its natural 1% abundance. Although carbon-13 can be separated from the major carbon-12 isotope via techniques such as thermal diffusion, chemical exchange, gas diffusion, and laser and cryogenic distillation, currently only cryogenic distillation of methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ear ...
or carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide ( chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
is an economically feasible industrial production technique. Industrial carbon-13 production plants represent a substantial investment, greater than 100 meter tall cryogenic distillation columns are needed to separate the carbon-12 or carbon-13 containing compounds. The largest reported commercial carbon-13 production plant in the world as of 2014 has a production capability of ~400 kg of carbon-13 annually. In contrast, a 1969 carbon monoxide cryogenic distillation pilot plant at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories could produce 4 kg of carbon-13 annually.
See also
* Isotopes of carbon
* Isotope fractionation
Isotope fractionation describes fractionation processes that affect the relative abundance of isotopes, phenomena which are taken advantage of in isotope geochemistry and other fields. Normally, the focus is on stable isotopes of the same element. ...
Notes
{{isotope, element=carbon
, lighter=carbon-12
Carbon-12 (12C) is the most abundant of the two stable isotopes of carbon ( carbon-13 being the other), amounting to 98.93% of element carbon on Earth; its abundance is due to the triple-alpha process by which it is created in stars. Carbon-1 ...
, heavier= carbon-14
, before= boron-13, nitrogen-13
, after=stable
Isotopes of carbon
Environmental isotopes