NMR analysis of structural geometry and molecular dynamics in perovskite-type N(CH3)4CdBr3 crystal near high-temperature phase transition

The NMR chemical shifts, linewidths, spin-lattice relaxation times in the rotating system T1ρ, and spin-lattice relaxation times in the laboratory system T1 were evaluated for the perovskite-type N(CH3)4CdBr3 crystal, aiming to understand the changes in the structural geometry and molecular dynamics from phase I to phase II. From the temperature-dependence of the 1H, 13C, 14N, and 113Cd NMR chemical shifts, the structural geometry underwent a continuous change, without anomalous changes around (TC = 390 K). However, the linewidths in phase I were narrower than those in phase II, indicating that the motional averaging effects were caused by the rapid rotation of the N(CH3)4 group. Sudden changes in T1 and T1ρ were observed near TC, for which the activation energy Ea in phase I was approximately 12 times larger than that in phase II; the small Ea values in phase II indicate a large degree of freedom for the methyl group and CdBr6 octahedra, whereas the large Ea in phase I was primarily attributed to the overall N(CH3)4 and the 113Cd in the CdBr6 groups. Consequently, the phase transition mechanisms of N(CH3)4CdBr3 are related to reorientation of the N(CH3)4 group and the arrangement of the CdBr6 groups.

Concomitant Polymorphism in an Organic Solid: Molecular and Crystal Structure and Intra- and Intermolecular Potential Contributions to tert-Butyl and Methyl Group Rotation

We investigate the relationship between structure (crystal and molecular) and tert-butyl and methyl group dynamics in 2-(tert-butyl)-9-(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)anthracene. Powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction, taken together, show that different polycrystalline samples recrystallized from different solvents have different amounts of at least four polymorphs (crystallites having different crystal structures), of which we have identified three by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The molecules in the asymmetric units of the different crystal structures differ by the dihedral angle the tert-butylphenyl group makes with the anthracene moiety. Ab initio electronic structure calculations on the isolated molecule show that very little intramolecular energy is required to change this angle over a range of about 60° which is probably the origin of the concomitant polymorphism (crystals of more than one polymorph in a polycrystalline sample). Solid state ¹ H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-lattice relaxation experiments support the powder and single-crystal X-ray results and provide average NMR activation energies (closely related to rotational barriers) for the rotation of the tert-butyl groups and their constituent methyl groups. These barriers have both an intramolecular and an intermolecular component. The latter is sensitive to the crystal structure. The intramolecular components of the rotational barriers of the two tert-butyl groups in the isolated molecule are investigated with ab initio electronic structure calculations.

Proton Spin-Lattice Relaxation in Organic Molecular Solids: Polymorphism and the Dependence on Sample Preparation

We report solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance ¹ H spin-lattice relaxation, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry in solid samples of 2-ethylanthracene (EA) and 2-ethylanthraquinone (EAQ) that have been physically purified in different ways from the same commercial starting compounds. The solid-state ¹ H spin-lattice relaxation is always non-exponential at high temperatures as expected when CH₃ rotation is responsible for the relaxation. The ¹ H spin-lattice relaxation experiments are very sensitive to the "several-molecule" (clusters) structure of these van der Waals molecular solids. In the three differently prepared samples of EAQ, the relaxation also becomes very non-exponential at low temperatures. This is very unusual and the decay of the nuclear magnetization can be fitted with both a stretched exponential and a double exponential. This unusual result correlates with the powder X-ray diffractometry results and suggests that the anomalous relaxation is due to crystallites of two (or more) different polymorphs (concomitant polymorphism).

Solid-Solid Phase Transitions and tert-Butyl and Methyl Group Rotation in an Organic Solid: X-ray Diffractometry, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, and Solid-State 1H Nuclear Spin Relaxation

Using solid-state ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-lattice relaxation experiments, we have investigated the effects of several solid-solid phase transitions on tert-butyl and methyl group rotation in solid 1,3,5-tri-tert-butylbenzene. The goal is to relate the dynamics of the tert-butyl groups and their constituent methyl groups to properties of the solid determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). On cooling, the DSC experiments see a first-order, solid-solid phase transition at either 268 or 155 K (but not both) depending on thermal history. The 155 K transition (on cooling) is identified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction to be one from a monoclinic phase (above 155 K), where the tert-butyl groups are disordered (that is, with a rotational 6-fold intermolecular potential dominating), to a triclinic phase (below 155 K), where the tert-butyl groups are ordered (that is, with a rotational 3-fold intermolecular potential dominating). This transition shows very different DSC scans when both a 4.7 mg polycrystalline sample and a 19 mg powder sample are used. The ¹H spin-lattice relaxation experiments with a much larger 0.7 g sample are very complicated and, depending on thermal history, can show hysteresis effects over many hours and over very large temperature ranges. In the high-temperature monoclinic phase, the tert-butyl groups rotate with NMR activation energies (closely related to rotational barriers) in the 17-23 kJ mol^-1 range, and the constituent methyl groups rotate with NMR activation energies in the 7-12 kJ mol^-1 range. In the low-temperature triclinic phase, the rotations of the tert-butyl groups and their methyl groups in the aromatic plane are quenched (on the NMR time scale). The two out-of-plane methyl groups in the tert-butyl groups are rotating with activation energies in the 5-11 kJ mol^-1 range.