Chemical, physical and biological research laboratories use deuterium in many ways. Many companies are involved in manufacturing deuterated products for these applications. As an example, investigators use deuterated NMR solvents to provide a blank background solvent for acquisition of sample proton spectra. Pharmaceutical research looks for specific site deuterium labeling to improve the pharmacokinetics of interesting drugs. Physics applications of deuterium oxide include fusion process development, neutron generation and a wide range of other experimental studies. Biological pathways yield important individual metabolic characteristics when deuterium oxide is introduced into living systems.
