Choosing an Appropriate Spectroscopic Tool

If you needed to distinguish each of the compounds in the following pairs ( A & B ) from each other, which spectroscopic method: infrared (IR), mass spectrometry (MS), 1H nmr (NMR) or ultraviolet-visible (UV) would be best suited for this purpose? Assume that you do not have a reference sample of either compound for direct comparison.

Compound A
Compound B
IR
MS
NMR
UV



(CH3)2CHCH2-OH
(CH3)3C-OH

C2H5-Cl
C2H5-Br




 

This script written by William Reusch, Dept. of Chemistry, Michigan State University. Please send comments and corrections to whreusch@pilot.msu.edu.