Dual Determination of Nitrogen Content and Nitration Site Distribution in Nitrocellulose via HSQC NMR

We report the successful NMR characterisation of cellulose trinitrate (CTN) and preliminary findings for cellulose dinitrate (CDN). We also present initial work towards a 15-second reagent-free methodology for the estimation of degree of nitration (DoN) in mixed nitrocellulose samples, using grouped integrals from 1H NMR. This offers a pathway to resolve polymolecularity challenges in nitro-polysaccharide analysis, supporting the development of high-performance nitrocellulose membranes for enhanced lateral-flow test sensitivity. Future work will focus on solvent optimisation to improve signal-to-noise ratios and validate estimation of degree of nitration against titration and comparative samples.