Individual spectral densities and molecular motion in polycrystalline hexamethylbenzene‐d18

Post-synthetic modulation of the charge distribution in a metal-organic framework for optimal binding of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide

Modulation of pore environment is an effective strategy to optimize guest binding in porous materials. We report the post-synthetic modification of the charge distribution in a charged metal-organic framework, MFM-305-CH₃, [Al(OH)(L)]Cl, [(H₂L)Cl = 3,5-dicarboxy-1-methylpyridinium chloride] and its effect on guest binding. MFM-305-CH₃ shows a distribution of cationic (methylpyridinium) and anionic (chloride) centers and can be modified to release free pyridyl N-centres by thermal demethylation of the 1-methylpyridinium moiety to give the neutral isostructural MFM-305. This leads simultaneously to enhanced adsorption capacities and selectivities (two parameters that often change in opposite directions) for CO₂ and SO₂ in MFM-305. The host-guest binding has been comprehensively investigated by in situ synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, inelastic neutron scattering, synchrotron infrared and ²H NMR spectroscopy and theoretical modelling to reveal the binding domains of CO₂ and SO₂ in these materials. CO₂ and SO₂ binding in MFM-305-CH₃ is shown to occur via hydrogen bonding to the methyl and aromatic-CH groups, with a long range interaction to chloride for CO₂. In MFM-305 the hydroxyl, pyridyl and aromatic C-H groups bind CO₂ and SO₂ more effectively via hydrogen bonds and dipole interactions. Post-synthetic modification via dealkylation of the as-synthesised metal-organic framework is a powerful route to the synthesis of materials incorporating active polar groups that cannot be prepared directly.

Second-order dipolar order in magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance

Generating dipolar order under magic-angle spinning (MAS) conditions is explored for different pulse sequences and dipolar-coupling networks. It is shown that under MAS second-order dipolar order can be generated reliably with 10% to 30% efficiency using the Jeener-Broekaert sequence in systems where the second-order average Hamiltonian is a (near) constant of the motion. When using adiabatic demagnetization and remagnetization, second-order dipolar order can be generated and reverted back to Zeeman order with up to 60% efficiency. This requires a maximum field strength with a nutation frequency that is less than one-quarter of the rotor frequency, and that the spin system can be properly spinlocked under such conditions. A simple coherent description accounts for the principal features of the spin dynamics, even using the smallest possible system of three coupled spins. For the systems investigated, the lifetime of second-order dipolar order under MAS was found to be on the order of T(1).

Saving transverse magnetization

A magnetization storage sequence, ALT-1 (alternating longitudinal and transverse components), is reported. The ALT-1 sequence is a hybrid of two types of storage sequences, the Carr-Purcell type and store-and-restore sequences. During incremental storage periods within the ALT-1 sequence, essentially half of the initially transverse magnetization is stored along the z-axis and the other half is prolonged by an echo-generating pulse. The portions of initial magnetization that are stored as longitudinal components or transverse components are alternated by a pi/2 pulse during the cycle. Both transverse components of the initial magnetization are treated the same in the ALT-1 sequence and orientational (phase) information of the initial magnetization is kept during the storage period. The ALT-1 sequence can preserve magnetization more effectively than a published class of modified Carr-Purcell type sequences, because essentially half of the magnetization during incremental storage periods is not subjected to relaxation from T2 effects.

Solid state deuteron relaxation time anisotropy measured with multiple echo acquisition

The signal to noise ratio of solid state deuteron NMR line shapes can be significantly improved by recording multiple echoes, generated either by a quadrupole Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill pulse train (QCPMG) or by magic angle spinning (MAS). It is shown in this article, theoretically and experimentally, that when these techniques are used to record partially relaxed spectra, the relaxation times of Zeeman order, T(1Z), and quadrupole order, T(1Q), measured for individual side bands in QCPMG experiments preserve relaxation time anisotropy, while rotational side bands in MAS spectra do not. The relaxation times of individual QCPMG sidebands are not identical to those measured at the same frequencies on partially relaxed quadrupole echo powder patterns, and must be computed by explicit simulation.

Effects of jump dynamics on solid state nuclear magnetic resonance line shapes and spin relaxation times

This paper describes EXPRESS (EXchange Program for RElaxing Spin Systems), a computer program that simulates the effects of Markovian jump dynamics for a wide variety of solid state nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. A graphical interface is described that facilitates the definition of rotational jumps around non-commuting axes that may occur at arbitrary, different rates. Solid state deuteron NMR is widely used to investigate such processes, and EXPRESS allows simulations of deuteron quadrupole echo and magic angle spinning line (MAS) shapes, as well as partially relaxed line shapes for measurements of anisotropic relaxation of Zeeman and quadrupolar order. Facilities are included for chemical shift tensors (at user-defined orientations relative to the quadrupole coupling tensors), so that EXPRESS is potentially useful for studies of paramagnetic systems where these interactions are of comparable magnitude. Many of the same techniques used for deuterons can be extended to half-integer quadrupolar nuclei. The same interface that specifies rotational "sites" for deuteron NMR studies is usable in EXPRESS to simulate static line shapes, MAS line shapes, and multiple pulse Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) line shapes for the central transition of high spin quadrupoles with second order quadrupole coupling and chemical shift anisotropy. Representative simulations are displayed that show effects of slow libration on deuteron quadrupole echo line shapes and relaxation time anisotropies. EXPRESS is also used to investigate fundamental differences in the mechanism of echo formation in deuteron MAS and quadrupole CPMG experiments, and to illustrate significant differences between these techniques in the context of high spin quadrupolar nuclei. The program is modular and platform-independent, with facilities for users to add routines for experiments not yet envisioned.

Investigation of multiaxis molecular motion by off-magic angle spinning deuteron NMR

The relatively new deuteron NMR method of off-axis-magic angle spinning (OMAS) has been extended and used to investigate multiaxis rotational jump motion. Floquet theory is developed for simulating deuteron OMAS spectra with multisite jumps at different rates about noncoincident axes, and efficient procedures are presented for computing the sideband line shapes. It is demonstrated experimentally that reproducible adjustment of the angle between the rotor axis and the static magnetic field is feasible with precision approaching +/- 0.01 degrees. This leads to the reintroduction of a scaled, first-order quadrupole coupling that defines a new kinetic window and makes deuteron OMAS much more sensitive than ordinary magic angle spinning to motion on the kilohertz time scale. Temperature-dependent deuteron OMAS line shapes of octanoic acid/urea-d4 inclusion compound have been recorded and fitted, using least-squares procedures, to provide rates of rotation about both CN and CO bonds. The Arrhenius activation parameters for rotation about CN bonds, Ea = 60.4+/-2.4 kJ/mol and ln(A) = 24.9+/-0.3, agree well with previous values determined by selective inversion experiments. However, OMAS yields Ea = 26.3+/-0.4 kJ/mole and ln(A) = 24.9+/-0.3 for whole-body rotation about the CO bond axis in contrast to previous analysis of static quadrupole echo (QE) line shapes which gave Ea = 22.3+/-0.3 kJ/mole and ln(A) = 24.8+/-0.6 for the same sample. The underlying homogeneous linewidths of OMAS spectra are much smaller than those of QE spectra, and this provides higher precision and less systematic error in the determination of rates.

Elastic, quasielastic, and inelastic neutron-scattering studies on the charge-transfer hexamethylbenzene-tetracyanoquinodimethane complex

The 1:1 hexamethylbenzene (HMB)-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) complex shows a first-order phase transition at 230/218 K (heating/cooling) with no change of the space group. The neutron-diffraction studies reveal that this transition is related to a freezing of the rotation of methyl groups. The results for 100 K enabled precise determination of configuration of HMB.TCNQ complexes. The planes of HMB and TCNQ molecules from small angle (6 degrees) so that the dicyanomethylene group approaches the HMB molecule to a distance of 3.34 angstroms. The conformation of methyl groups was exactly determined. The quasielastic neutron-scattering spectra can be interpreted in terms of 120 degrees jumps with different activation barrier in low- and high-temperature phases, equal to 3.7 and 1.8 kJ/mol, respectively. These values are lower than that for neat HMB (6 kJ/mol). The conclusion can be drawn that the methyl groups can reorient more freely in the complex. This conclusion is in agreement with the results of inelastic neutron-scattering studies of low-frequency modes assigned to torsional vibrations of methyl groups. These frequencies are lower than those for neat HMB. The analyzed increase of frequencies of these modes as compared with free molecules can be interpreted as due to formation of unconventional C-H...Y hydrogen bonds which are more pronounced in crystals of neat HMB than in those of HMB.TCNQ. The low-frequency librational modes can be treated as a sensitive measure of unconventional hydrogen bonds formed by the CH3 groups.

Dynamics of Chloromethanes in Cryptophane-E Inclusion Complexes: A 2H Solid-State NMR and X-ray Diffraction Study

In this paper, we present a variable temperature (2)H solid-state NMR investigation of cryptophane-E:chloroform and cryptophane-E:dichloromethane inclusion complexes. The (2)H line shapes and nuclear spin relaxation rates were analyzed in terms of the distribution of C-D bond orientations and the time scale of the guest dynamics. It was found that encaged chloroform produces broad (2)H spectra, and that its reorientation is relatively slow with a correlation time of approximately 0.17 mus at 292 K. In contrast, the (2)H line shapes of encaged dichloromethane are narrow and the motion of this guest molecule is fast with a correlation time of approximately 1.4 ps at 283 K. The (2)H NMR data were complemented by an X-ray diffraction study of the cryptophane-E:dichloromethane structure, which was utilized in the analysis of the NMR parameters.

Molecular dynamics of amide ions in potassium amide (KNH2) studied with orientation-dependent deuterium spin lattice relaxation

The reorientational molecular dynamics of the amide ions were investigated in three different phases of KND2 by means of 2H NMR line-shape analyses of solid-echo, T1Z as well as T1Q distorted spectra in a temperature range of 80-420 K. The correlation times of the amide dynamics cover roughly eight decades in this temperature range. Due to the nonzero asymmetry parameter (eta approximately 0.2) of the electric field gradient tensor the calculation of the orientation-dependent spectral densities Jm(theta, phi) required for the interpretation of the T1Z and T1Q distorted spectra cannot be simplified as in the case eta = 0 and a numerical approach was used for the calculation of Jm(theta, phi), which allows a maximum flexibility for simulating different models of motion. The amide ion dynamics in the low-temperature phase can be described as a superposition of a thermally activated large angle jump of the amide ions about their two-fold axes in an asymmetric four-well potential and strongly anisotropic molecular librations. The asymmetry of the potential surface of the jump process was found to be a function of temperature. Activation energy EA, attempt frequency tau0(-1) and DND bond angle epsilon were determined to 15.5(2) kJ/mol, 62(6) x 10(12) s(-1) and 104.7(3) degrees. In the middle- and high-temperature phases the amide ions perform 90 degrees jumps about the crystallographic four-fold axes. For the high-temperature modification the correlation times were observed to follow an Arrhenius law with EA = 6.3(2) kJ/mol and tau0(-1) = 32(3) x 10(12) s(-1).