Triple-quantum dynamics in multiple-spin systems undergoing magic-angle spinning: application to 13C homonuclear correlation spectroscopy

Advanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy and its applications in zeolite chemistry

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy (ssNMR) can provide details about the structure, host-guest/guest-guest interactions and dynamic behavior of materials at atomic length scales. A crucial use of ssNMR is for the characterization of zeolite catalysts that are extensively employed in industrial catalytic processes. This review aims to spotlight the recent advancements in ssNMR spectroscopy and its application to zeolite chemistry. We first review the current ssNMR methods and techniques that are relevant to characterize zeolite catalysts, including advanced multinuclear and multidimensional experiments, in situ NMR techniques and hyperpolarization methods. Of these, the methodology development on half-integer quadrupolar nuclei is emphasized, which represent about two-thirds of stable NMR-active nuclei and are widely present in catalytic materials. Subsequently, we introduce the recent progress in understanding zeolite chemistry with the aid of these ssNMR methods and techniques, with a specific focus on the investigation of zeolite framework structures, zeolite crystallization mechanisms, surface active/acidic sites, host-guest/guest-guest interactions, and catalytic reaction mechanisms.

Ultrafast Magic Angle Spinning Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy: Advances in Methodology and Applications

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is one of the most commonly used techniques to study the atomic-resolution structure and dynamics of various chemical, biological, material, and pharmaceutical systems spanning multiple forms, including crystalline, liquid crystalline, fibrous, and amorphous states. Despite the unique advantages of solid-state NMR spectroscopy, its poor spectral resolution and sensitivity have severely limited the scope of this technique. Fortunately, the recent developments in probe technology that mechanically rotate the sample fast (100 kHz and above) to obtain "solution-like" NMR spectra of solids with higher resolution and sensitivity have opened numerous avenues for the development of novel NMR techniques and their applications to study a plethora of solids including globular and membrane-associated proteins, self-assembled protein aggregates such as amyloid fibers, RNA, viral assemblies, polymorphic pharmaceuticals, metal-organic framework, bone materials, and inorganic materials. While the ultrafast-MAS continues to be developed, the minute sample quantity and radio frequency requirements, shorter recycle delays enabling fast data acquisition, the feasibility of employing proton detection, enhancement in proton spectral resolution and polarization transfer efficiency, and high sensitivity per unit sample are some of the remarkable benefits of the ultrafast-MAS technology as demonstrated by the reported studies in the literature. Although the very low sample volume and very high RF power could be limitations for some of the systems, the advantages have spurred solid-state NMR investigation into increasingly complex biological and material systems. As ultrafast-MAS NMR techniques are increasingly used in multidisciplinary research areas, further development of instrumentation, probes, and advanced methods are pursued in parallel to overcome the limitations and challenges for widespread applications. This review article is focused on providing timely comprehensive coverage of the major developments on instrumentation, theory, techniques, applications, limitations, and future scope of ultrafast-MAS technology.

Solid-State NMR: Methods for Biological Solids

In the last two decades, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy has transformed from a spectroscopic technique investigating small molecules and industrial polymers to a potent tool decrypting structure and underlying dynamics of complex biological systems, such as membrane proteins, fibrils, and assemblies, in near-physiological environments and temperatures. This transformation can be ascribed to improvements in hardware design, sample preparation, pulsed methods, isotope labeling strategies, resolution, and sensitivity. The fundamental engagement between nuclear spins and radio-frequency pulses in the presence of a strong static magnetic field is identical between solution and ssNMR, but the experimental procedures vastly differ because of the absence of molecular tumbling in solids. This review discusses routinely employed state-of-the-art static and MAS pulsed NMR methods relevant for biological samples with rotational correlation times exceeding 100's of nanoseconds. Recent developments in signal filtering approaches, proton methodologies, and multiple acquisition techniques to boost sensitivity and speed up data acquisition at fast MAS are also discussed. Several examples of protein structures (globular, membrane, fibrils, and assemblies) solved with ssNMR spectroscopy have been considered. We also discuss integrated approaches to structurally characterize challenging biological systems and some newly emanating subdisciplines in ssNMR spectroscopy.

Refined Structures of O-Phospho-l-serine and Its Calcium Salt by New Multinuclear Solid-State NMR Crystallography Methods

O-phospho-l-serine (Pser) and its Ca salt, Ca[O-phospho-l-serine]·H2O (CaPser), play important roles for bone mineralization and were recently also proposed to account for the markedly improved bone-adhesive properties of Pser-doped calcium phosphate-based cements for biomedical implants. However, the hitherto few proposed structural models of Pser and CaPser were obtained by X-ray diffraction, thereby leaving the proton positions poorly defined. Herein, we refine the Pser and CaPser structures by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and contrast them with direct interatomic-distance constraints from two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) correlation experimentation at fast magic-angle spinning (MAS), encompassing double-quantum-single-quantum (2Q-1Q) 1H NMR along with heteronuclear 13C{1H} and 31P{1H} correlation NMR experiments. The Pser and CaPser structures before and after refinements by DFT were validated against sets of NMR-derived effective 1H-1H, 1H-31P, and 1H-13C distances, which confirmed the improved accuracy of the refined structures. Each distance set was derived from one sole 2D NMR experiment applied to a powder without isotopic enrichment. The distances were extracted without invoking numerical spin-dynamics simulations or approximate phenomenological models. We highlight the advantages and limitations of the new distance-extraction procedure. Isotropic 1H, 13C, and 31P chemical shifts obtained by DFT calculations using the gauge including projector augmented wave (GIPAW) method agreed very well with the experimental results. We discuss the isotropic and anisotropic 13C and 31P chemical-shift parameters in relation to the previous literature, where most data on CaPser are reported herein for the first time.

Improved Magnetization Transfers among Quadrupolar Nuclei in Two-Dimensional Homonuclear Correlation NMR Experiments Applied to Inorganic Network Structures

We demonstrate that supercycles of previously introduced two-fold symmetry dipolar recoupling schemes may be utilized successfully in homonuclear correlation nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for probing proximities among half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei in network materials undergoing magic-angle-spinning (MAS). These (SR221)M, (SR241)M, and (SR281)M recoupling sequences with M=3 and M=4 offer comparably efficient magnetization transfers in single-quantum–single-quantum (1Q–1Q) correlation NMR experiments under moderately fast MAS conditions, as demonstrated at 14.1 T and 24 kHz MAS in the contexts of 11B NMR on a Na2O–CaO–B2O3–SiO2 glass and 27Al NMR on the open framework aluminophosphate AlPO-CJ19 [(NH4)2Al4(PO4)4HPO4·H2O]. Numerically simulated magnetization transfers in spin–3/2 pairs revealed a progressively enhanced tolerance to resonance offsets and rf-amplitude errors of the recoupling pulses along the series (SR221)M< (SR241)M< (SR281)M for increasing differences in chemical shifts between the two nuclei. Nonetheless, for scenarios of a relatively minor chemical-shift dispersions (≲3 kHz), the (SR221)M supercycles perform best both experimentally and in simulations.

Five decades of homonuclear dipolar decoupling in solid-state NMR: Status and outlook

It has been slightly more than fifty years since the first homonuclear spin decoupling scheme, Lee-Goldburg decoupling, was proposed for removing homonuclear dipolar interactions in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. A family of such schemes has made observation of high-resolution NMR spectra of abundant spins possible in various applications in solid state. This review outlines the strategies used in this field and the future prospects of homonuclear spin decoupling in solid-state NMR.

Asynchronous symmetry-based sequences for homonuclear dipolar recoupling in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance

We show a theoretical framework, based on triple-mode Floquet theory, to analyze recoupling sequences derived from symmetry-based pulse sequences, which have a non-vanishing effective field and are not rotor synchronized. We analyze the properties of one such sequence, a homonuclear double-quantum recoupling sequence derived from the C72 (1) sequence. The new asynchronous sequence outperforms the rotor-synchronized version for spin pairs with small dipolar couplings in the presence of large chemical-shift anisotropy. The resonance condition of the new sequence is analyzed using triple-mode Floquet theory. Analytical calculations of second-order effective Hamiltonian are performed to compare the efficiency in suppressing second-order cross terms. Experiments and numerical simulations are shown to corroborate the results of the theoretical analysis.

Measurements of 13C multiple-quantum coherences in amyloid fibrils under magic-angle spinning

The excitation and detection of high-order multiple quantum coherences among (13)C nuclear spins are demonstrated in the samples of [1-(13)C]-L-alanine and (13)C labeled amyloid fibrils at a spinning frequency of 20 kHz. The technique is based on the double-quantum average Hamiltonian prepared by the DRAMA-XY4 pulse sequence. Empirically, we find that multiple supercycles are required to suppress the higher-order effects for real applications. Measurements for the fibril samples formed by the polypeptides of PrP(113-127) provide the first solid-state NMR evidence for the stacking of multiple β-sheet layers at the structural core of amyloid fibrils.

Two-dimensional MAS NMR correlation protocols involving double-quantum filtering of quadrupolar spin-pairs

Three two-dimensional (2D) NMR homonuclear correlation techniques invoking double-quantum (2Q) filtration of the central transitions of half-integer spins are evaluated numerically and experimentally. They correlate directly detected single-quantum (1Q) coherences in the t(2) domain with either of 1Q, two-spin 2Q or single-spin multiple-quantum coherence-evolutions in the indirect (t(1)) dimension. We employ experimental (23)Na and (27)Al NMR on sodium sulfite and the natural mineral sillimanite (SiAl(2)O(5)), in conjunction with simulated 2D spectra from pairs of dipolar-recoupled spins-3/2 and 5/2 at different external magnetic fields, to compare the correlation strategies from the viewpoints of 2D spectral resolution, signal sensitivity, implementational aspects and their relative merits for establishing internuclear proximities and quadrupolar tensor orientations.

Supercycled symmetry-based double-quantum dipolar recoupling of quadrupolar spins in MAS NMR: I. Theory

Using average Hamiltonian (AH) theory, we analyze recently introduced homonuclear dipolar recoupling pulse sequences for exciting central-transition double-quantum coherences (2QC) between half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei undergoing magic-angle-spinning. Several previously observed differences among the recoupling schemes concerning their compensation to resonance offsets and radio-frequency (rf) inhomogeneity may qualitatively be rationalized by an AH analysis up to third perturbation order, despite its omission of first-order quadrupolar interactions. General aspects of the engineering of 2Q-recoupling pulse sequences applicable to half-integer spins are discussed, emphasizing the improvements offered from a diversity of supercycles providing enhanced suppression of undesirable AH cross-terms between resonance offsets and rf amplitude errors.

Theory and applications of supercycled symmetry-based recoupling sequences in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance

We present the theoretical principles of supercycled symmetry-based recoupling sequences in solid-state magic-angle-spinning NMR. We discuss the construction procedure of the SR26 pulse sequence, which is a particularly robust sequence for double-quantum homonuclear dipole-dipole recoupling. The supercycle removes destructive higher-order average Hamiltonian terms and renders the sequence robust over long time intervals. We demonstrate applications of the SR26 sequence to double-quantum spectroscopy, homonuclear spin counting, and determination of the relative orientations of chemical shift anisotropy tensors.

Triple-quantum correlation NMR experiments in solids using J-couplings

We show that triple-quantum-single-quantum (TQ-SQ) correlation spectra of crystalline and disordered solids can be obtained under MAS using pulse sequences based on through-bond J-couplings. The feasibility of the experiments in coupled spin-1/2 systems is demonstrated for fully 13C-labelled L-alanine and Pb3P4O13 crystalline compounds, considered as model three-spin and four-spin systems, respectively. In the case of phosphate glasses, we show that the obtained TQ-SQ correlation spectra provide an improved description of the glass forming network connectivities and of the chain length distribution in the disordered network.

Heteronuclear decoupling interference during symmetry-based homonuclear recoupling in solid-state NMR

We examine the influence of continuous-wave heteronuclear decoupling on symmetry-based double-quantum homonuclear dipolar recoupling, using experimental measurements, numerical simulations, and average Hamiltonian theory. There are two distinct regimes in which the heteronuclear interference effects are minimized. The first regime utilizes a moderate homonuclear recoupling field and a strong heteronuclear decoupling field; the second regime utilizes a strong homonuclear recoupling field and a weak or absent heteronuclear decoupling field. The second regime is experimentally accessible at moderate or high magic-angle-spinning frequencies and is particularly relevant for many realistic applications of solid-state NMR recoupling experiments to organic or biological materials.