Use of Isotopically Labeled Compounds Tracer Technique

Until the mid-1940 s the metabolic fate of a compound could be followed only with great difficulty. Biosynthetic studies often were limited to model experiments in unbiological systems, which served to demonstrate the chemical feasibility of certain reactions under physiological conditions . This situation changed drastically in the 1950 s when radioactive isotopes became readily available. The use of the so-caUed tracer technique, i.e., 

The isotopes most important in biosynthetic studies are (deuterium), (tritium), 0, and They may be introduced in a compound 

Isotope Emission spectroscopy ORD spectroscopy Mass spectrometry NMR spectroscopy  

After combustion to nitrogen gas. It therefore does not allow determination of the position of label if there is more than one nitrogen atom per molecule. 

Used primarily in mechanistic studies with stereospecific labeling. 

---