Natural-Abundance Solid-State 2H NMR Spectroscopy at High Magnetic Field

Chemical exchange of labile protons by deuterium enables selective detection of pharmaceuticals in solid formulations

Chemically assisted swapping of labile protons by deuterons is presented for amino acids, polysaccharides, pharmaceutical compounds, and their solid formulations. Solid-state packing interactions in these compounds are elucidated by ¹H-²H isotope correlation NMR spectroscopy (iCOSY). A minuscule concentration of dopamine, 5 wt% or ∼100 μg, in a solid formulation can be detected by ²H NMR at 28.2 T (¹H, 1200 MHz) in under a minute.

CO2 regulates molecular rotor dynamics in porous materials

Porous molecular crystals contain fast molecular rotors whose dynamics can be controlled by CO₂.

High-resolution NMR of hydrogen in organic solids by DNP enhanced natural abundance deuterium spectroscopy

We demonstrate that high field (9.4 T) dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) at cryogenic (∼100 K) sample temperatures enables the rapid acquisition of natural abundance (1)H-(2)H cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) solid-state NMR spectra of organic solids. Spectra were obtained by impregnating substrates with a solution of the stable DNP polarizing agent TEKPol in tetrachloroethane. Tetrachloroethane is a non-solvent for the solids, and the unmodified substrates are then polarized through spin diffusion. High quality natural abundance (2)H CPMAS spectra of histidine hydrochloride monohydrate, glycylglycine and theophylline were acquired in less than 2h, providing direct access to hydrogen chemical shifts and quadrupolar couplings. The spectral resolution of the (2)H solid-state NMR spectra is comparable to that of (1)H spectra obtained with state of the art homonuclear decoupling techniques.

Concise NMR approach for molecular dynamics characterizations in organic solids

Molecular dynamics characterisations in solids can be carried out selectively using dipolar-dephasing experiments. Here we show that the introduction of a sum of Lorentzian and Gaussian functions greatly improve fittings of the "intensity versus time" data for protonated carbons in dipolar-dephasing experiments. The Lorentzian term accounts for remote intra- and intermolecular (1)H-(13)C dipole-dipole interactions, which vary from one molecule to another or for different carbons within the same molecule. Thus, by separating contributions from weak remote interactions, more accurate Gaussian decay constants, T(dd), can be extracted for directly bonded (1)H-(13)C dipole-dipole interactions. Reorientations of the (1)H-(13)C bonds lead to the increase of T(dd), and by measuring dipolar-dephasing constants, insight can be gained into dynamics in solids. We have demonstrated advantages of the method using comparative dynamics studies in the α and γ polymorphs of glycine, cyclic amino acids L-proline, DL-proline and trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline, the Ala residue in different dipeptides, as well as adamantane and hexamethylenetetramine. It was possible to distinguish subtle differences in dynamics of different carbon sites within a molecule in polymorphs and in L- and DL-forms. The presence of overall molecular motions is shown to lead to particularly large differences in dipolar-dephasing experiments. The differences in dynamics can be attributed to differences in noncovalent interactions. In the case of hexamethylenetetramine, for example, the presence of C-H···N interactions leads to nearly rigid molecules. Overall, the method allows one to gain insight into the role of noncovalent interactions in solids and their influence on the molecular dynamics.