This purplish coordination complex is used in NMR spectroscopy as a relaxation agent because of its solubility in nonpolar organic solvents and its paramagnetism.

The compound is prepared by the reaction of chromium(III) oxide with acetylacetone (Hacac):[3] The complex has idealized D3 symmetry.

It reacts with a variety of electrophiles at the 3-positions of the chelate rings, giving the corresponding bromo-, nitro-, and formyl-substituted derivatives.

[6] Cr(acac)3 is paramagnetic, a property which is often detrimental for NMR spectroscopy as the spin-lattice relaxation times are very short, leading to excessively broad peaks.

In particular, 13C quaternary carbons suffer from low signal intensity due to long relaxation times and lack of enhancement from the Nuclear Overhauser effect.