First-Principles Calculations within Periodic Boundary Conditions of the NMR Shielding Tensor for a Transition Metal Nucleus in a Solid State System: The Example of 51V in AlVO4

Investigation of vanadia-alumina catalysts with solid-state NMR spectroscopy and DFT

In this work, isolated surface sites of vanadium oxide on the alumina surface were modeled and compared to experimental data obtained with ⁵¹V Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy. The geometry of the centers on the (100), (110), and (111) planes of the spinel structure and (010) monoclinic alumina was modeled using density functional theory (DFT); their ⁵¹V NMR parameters were calculated using the Gauge-Including Projector Augmented Wave (GIPAW) method. The comparison of the simulated theoretical spectra with the experimental ones made it possible to find the sites that are likely present on the surface of real catalysts. The minimum energy pathways of propane oxidative dehydrogenation to propene were calculated for the dioxovanadium site in order to estimate its activity.

NMR characterization of hydrocarbon adsorption on calcite surfaces: a first principles study

The electronic and coordination environment of minerals surfaces, as calcite, are very difficult to characterize experimentally. This is mainly due to the fact that there are relatively few spectroscopic techniques able to detect Ca(2+). Since calcite is a major constituent of sedimentary rocks in oil reservoir, a more detailed characterization of the interaction between hydrocarbon molecules and mineral surfaces is highly desirable. Here we perform a first principles study on the adsorption of hydrocarbon molecules on calcite surface (CaCO3 (101¯4)). The simulations were based on Density Functional Theory with Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SS-NMR) calculations. The Gauge-Including Projector Augmented Wave method was used to compute mainly SS-NMR parameters for (43)Ca, (13)C, and (17)O in calcite surface. It was possible to assign the peaks in the theoretical NMR spectra for all structures studied. Besides showing different chemical shifts for atoms located on different environments (bulk and surface) for calcite, the results also display changes on the chemical shift, mainly for Ca sites, when the hydrocarbon molecules are present. Even though the interaction of the benzene molecule with the calcite surface is weak, there is a clearly distinguishable displacement of the signal of the Ca sites over which the hydrocarbon molecule is located. A similar effect is also observed for hexane adsorption. Through NMR spectroscopy, we show that aromatic and alkane hydrocarbon molecules adsorbed on carbonate surfaces can be differentiated.

The PAW/GIPAW approach for computing NMR parameters: a new dimension added to NMR study of solids

In 2001, Mauri and Pickard introduced the gauge including projected augmented wave (GIPAW) method that enabled for the first time the calculation of all-electron NMR parameters in solids, i.e. accounting for periodic boundary conditions. The GIPAW method roots in the plane wave pseudopotential formalism of the density functional theory (DFT), and avoids the use of the cluster approximation. This method has undoubtedly revitalized the interest in quantum chemical calculations in the solid-state NMR community. It has quickly evolved and improved so that the calculation of the key components of NMR interactions, namely the shielding and electric field gradient tensors, has now become a routine for most of the common nuclei studied in NMR. Availability of reliable implementations in several software packages (CASTEP, Quantum Espresso, PARATEC) make its usage more and more increasingly popular, maybe indispensable in near future for all material NMR studies. The majority of nuclei of the periodic table have already been investigated by GIPAW, and because of its high accuracy it is quickly becoming an essential tool for interpreting and understanding experimental NMR spectra, providing reliable assignments of the observed resonances to crystallographic sites or enabling a priori prediction of NMR data. The continuous increase of computing power makes ever larger (and thus more realistic) systems amenable to first-principles analysis. In the near future perspectives, as the incorporation of dynamical effects and/or disorder are still at their early developments, these areas will certainly be the prime target.

DFT 2H quadrupolar coupling constants of ruthenium complexes: a good probe of the coordination of hydrides in conjuction with experiments

Transition metal (TM) hydrides are of great interest in chemistry because of their reactivity and their potential as catalysts for hydrogenation reactions. 2H solid-state NMR can be used in order to get information about the local environment of hydrogen atoms, and more particularly the coordination mode of hydrides in such complexes. In this work we will show that it is possible to establish at the level of density functional theory (DFT) a viable methodological strategy that allows the determination of 2H NMR parameters, namely the quadrupolar coupling constant (C(Q)) respectively the quadrupolar splitting (deltanuQ) and the asymmetry parameter (etaQ). The reliability of the method (B3PW91-DFT) and basis set effects have been first evaluated for simple organic compounds (benzene and fluorene). A good correlation between experimental and theoretical values is systematically obtained if the large basis set cc-pVTZ is used for the computations. 2H NMR properties of five mononuclear ruthenium complexes (namely Cp*RuD3(PPh3), Tp*RuD(THT)2, Tp*RuD(D2)(THT) and Tp*RuD(D2)2 and RuD2(D2)2(PCy3)2) which exhibit different ligands and hydrides involved in different coordination modes (terminal-H or eta2-H2), have been calculated and compared to previous experimental data. The results obtained are in excellent agreement with experiments. Although 2H NMR spectra are not always easy to analyze, assistance by quantum chemistry calculations allows unambiguous assignment of the signals of such spectra. As far as experiments can be achieved at very low temperatures in order to avoid dynamic effects, this hybrid theoretical/experimental tool may give useful insights in the context of the characterization of ruthenium surfaces or nanoparticles with solid-state NMR.

First principles NMR calculations of phenylphosphinic acid C6H5HPO(OH): assignments, orientation of tensors by local field experiments and effect of molecular motion

The complete set of NMR parameters for (17)O enriched phenylphosphinic acid C(6)H(5)HP( *)O(*OH) is calculated from first principles by using the Gauge Including Projected Augmented Wave (GIPAW) approach [C.J. Pickard, F. Mauri, All-electron magnetic response with pseudopotentials: NMR chemical shifts, Phys. Rev. B 63 (2001) 245101/1-245101/13]. The analysis goes beyond the successful assignment of the spectra for all nuclei ((1)H, (13)C, (17)O, (31)P), as: (i) the (1)H CSA (chemical shift anisotropy) tensors (magnitude and orientation) have been interpreted in terms of H bonding and internuclear distances. (ii) CSA/dipolar local field correlation experiments have allowed the orientation of the direct P-H bond direction in the (31)P CSA tensor to be determined. Experimental and calculated data were compared. (iii) The overestimation of the calculated (31)P CSA has been explained by local molecular reorientation and confirmed by low temperature static (1)H-->(31)P CP experiments.