NMR spectroscopy is arguably the most powerful tool for the study of molecular structures and interactions, and is increasingly being applied to environmental research, such as the study of wastewater. With over 97% of the planet’s water being saltwater, and two thirds of freshwater being frozen in the ice caps and glaciers, there is a significant need to maintain and reuse the remaining 1%, which is a precious resource, critical to the sustainability of most life on Earth. Sanitation and reutilization of wastewater is an important method of water conservation, especially in arid regions, making the understanding of wastewater itself, and of its treatment processes, a highly relevant area of environmental research. Here, the benefits, challenges and subtleties of using NMR spectroscopy for the analysis of wastewater are considered. First, the techniques available to overcome the specific challenges arising from the nature of wastewater (which is a complex and dilute matrix), including an examination of sample preparation and NMR techniques (such as solvent suppression), in both the solid and solution states, are discussed. Then, the arsenal of available NMR techniques for both structure elucidation (e.g., heteronuclear, multidimensional NMR, homonuclear scalar coupling-based experiments) and the study of intermolecular interactions (e.g., diffusion, nuclear Overhauser and saturation transfer-based techniques) in wastewater are examined. Examples of wastewater NMR studies from the literature are reviewed and potential areas for future research are identified. Organized by nucleus, this review includes the common heteronuclei (¹³C, ¹⁵N, ¹⁹F, ³¹P, ²⁹Si) as well as other environmentally relevant nuclei and metals such as ²⁷Al, ⁵¹V, ²⁰⁷Pb and ¹¹³Cd, among others. Further, the potential of additional NMR methods such as comprehensive multiphase NMR, NMR microscopy and hyphenated techniques (for example, LC-SPE-NMR-MS) for advancing the current understanding of wastewater are discussed. In addition, a case study that combines natural abundance (i.e. non-concentrated), targeted and non-targeted NMR to characterize wastewater, along with in vivo based NMR to understand its toxicity, is included. The study demonstrates that, when applied comprehensively, NMR can provide unique insights into not just the structure, but also potential impacts, of wastewater and wastewater treatment processes. Finally, low-field NMR, which holds considerable future potential for on-site wastewater monitoring, is briefly discussed. In summary, NMR spectroscopy is one of the most versatile tools in modern science, with abilities to study all phases (gases, liquids, gels and solids), chemical structures, interactions, interfaces, toxicity and much more. The authors hope this review will inspire more scientists to embrace NMR, given its huge potential for both wastewater analysis in particular and environmental research in general.

核磁共振波谱可以说是研究分子结构和相互作用的最有力工具，并且越来越多地应用于环境研究，例如废水研究。地球上超过 97% 的水是咸水，三分之二的淡水被冰盖和冰川冻结，因此非常需要维护和再利用剩余的 1%，这是一种宝贵的资源，对人类的可持续性至关重要地球上的大多数生命。废水的卫生和再利用是一种重要的节水方法，尤其是在干旱地区，这使得对废水本身及其处理过程的了解成为环境研究的高度相关领域。在这里，我们考虑了使用 NMR 光谱分析废水的好处、挑战和微妙之处。第一的，讨论了可用于克服废水性质（这是一种复杂且稀释的基质）所带来的特定挑战的技术，包括在固体和溶液状态下对样品制备和 NMR 技术（如溶剂抑制）的检查. 然后，用于结构解析（例如，异核、多维核磁共振、基于同核标量耦合的实验）和研究废水中分子间相互作用（例如，扩散、核 Overhauser 和基于饱和转移的技术）的可用核磁共振技术库是检查。回顾了文献中废水核磁共振研究的例子，并确定了未来研究的潜在领域。本综述按核组织，包括常见的异核（包括样品制备和核磁共振技术（如溶剂抑制）的检查，在固体和溶液状态，都进行了讨论。然后，用于结构解析（例如，异核、多维核磁共振、基于同核标量耦合的实验）和研究废水中分子间相互作用（例如，扩散、核 Overhauser 和基于饱和转移的技术）的可用核磁共振技术库是检查。回顾了文献中废水核磁共振研究的例子，并确定了未来研究的潜在领域。本综述按核组织，包括常见的异核（包括样品制备和核磁共振技术（如溶剂抑制）的检查，在固体和溶液状态，都进行了讨论。然后，用于结构解析（例如，异核、多维核磁共振、基于同核标量耦合的实验）和研究废水中分子间相互作用（例如，扩散、核 Overhauser 和基于饱和转移的技术）的可用核磁共振技术库是检查。回顾了文献中废水核磁共振研究的例子，并确定了未来研究的潜在领域。本综述按核组织，包括常见的异核（研究了用于结构解析（例如，异核、多维核磁共振、基于同核标量耦合的实验）和研究废水中分子间相互作用（例如，扩散、核 Overhauser 和基于饱和转移的技术）的可用 NMR 技术库。回顾了文献中废水核磁共振研究的例子，并确定了未来研究的潜在领域。本综述按核组织，包括常见的异核（研究了用于结构解析（例如，异核、多维核磁共振、基于同核标量耦合的实验）和研究废水中分子间相互作用（例如，扩散、核 Overhauser 和基于饱和转移的技术）的可用 NMR 技术库。回顾了文献中废水核磁共振研究的例子，并确定了未来研究的潜在领域。本综述按核组织，包括常见的异核（回顾了文献中废水核磁共振研究的例子，并确定了未来研究的潜在领域。本综述按核组织，包括常见的异核（回顾了文献中废水核磁共振研究的例子，并确定了未来研究的潜在领域。本综述按核组织，包括常见的异核（¹³ C、¹⁵ N、¹⁹ F、³¹ P、²⁹ Si) 以及其他与环境相关的原子核和金属，例如²⁷ Al、⁵¹ V、²⁰⁷ Pb 和¹¹³ Cd 等。此外，还讨论了其他 NMR 方法（例如综合多相 NMR、NMR 显微镜和联用技术（例如 LC-SPE-NMR-MS））在促进当前对废水的理解方面的潜力。此外，一个案例研究结合了自然丰度（即非浓缩）、靶向和非靶向 NMR 来表征废水以及体内包括基于核磁共振来了解其毒性。该研究表明，当全面应用时，NMR 不仅可以提供对废水和废水处理过程的结构，而且还可以提供潜在影响的独特见解。最后，简要讨论了在现场废水监测方面具有相当大的未来潜力的低场核磁共振。总之，核磁共振光谱是现代科学中最通用的工具之一，能够研究所有相（气体、液体、凝胶和固体）、化学结构、相互作用、界面、毒性等等。鉴于 NMR 在特别是废水分析和一般环境研究方面的巨大潜力，作者希望这篇综述能激发更多科学家接受 NMR。