Modulation-aided signal enhancement in the magic angle spinning NMR of spin-5/2 nuclei

We report signal enhancement schemes using fast amplitude modulated pulses for the one-dimensional (1D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of spin-5/2 nuclei under magic-angle spinning. Signal enhancement by a factor of around 2.5 is observed when amplitude modulated pulses precede selective excitation of the central transition. This enhancement is a result of the redistribution of energy level populations through partial saturation of the satellite transitions. Results are shown for ²⁷Al and ¹⁷O. The gain in signal intensity is very useful for the observation of weak signals from low abundance quadrupolar nuclei. The scheme works for wide ranges of quadrupole interactions and rf powers.     

13C N.M.R. and 14N N.Q.R. in ferroelectric liquid crystals Polar versus quadrupolar ordering

Abstract

¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance and ¹⁴N nuclear quadrupole resonance spectra of ferroelectric smectic C?liquid crystals and their non-chiral analogues allow for a microscopic determination of the polar and quadrupolar (or bipolar) biasing of rotation around the long molecular axis as well as for a determination of the anisotropy in the fluctuations of this axis. The results show that the microscopic origin of the biquadratic coupling between the polarization and the tilt, which has been recently introduced into the extended Landau model of the S_A–S?_C transition, is the quadrupolar (or bipolar) rotational bias induced by the anisotropy in the fluctuations of the long molecular axis. The tilt induced anisotropy in the fluctuations is practically identical in chiral and non-chiral smectic C phases.     

Acquisition times,relaxation rates and solvent and temperature effects as sensitivity parameters for quadrupolar nuclei

The relationship between the signal-to-noise ration and T₂ and, hence, the line width of a resonance for quadrupolar nuclei, with particular reference to ¹⁷O at natural abundance, is discussed. Emphasis is placed on the importance of choosing appropriate FID acquisition times related to the T₂ values or resonance widths of the quadrupolar nuclei. When this is feasible (i.e. when the principal resonances in a spectrum have similar widths) the signal-to-noise ratio attainable against a flat base line in a given time of spectral accumulation is independent of resonance line width. Although resolution improvements can be made by using appropriate solvents or elevated sample temperatures, the sensitivity has been to be strongly dependent on the acquisition parameters used.     

Semi‐analytical description of the S = 9/2 quadrupole nutation NMR experiment: multinuclear application to 113In and 115In in indium phosphide

The density matrix of a spin S = 9/2 excited by a radiofrequency pulse is calculated. The interaction involved during the excitation of the spin system is first‐order quadrupolar. Consequently, the results are valid for any ratio of the quadrupolar coupling ω_Q to the pulse amplitude ω₁. The behavior of the central transition intensities versus the pulse length is discussed. The ¹¹⁵In and ¹¹³In nuclei in a powdered sample of indium phosphide (InP) are used to illustrate the results. It is found that the ratio of the quadrupolar coupling constants determined in this work is in excellent agreement with the ratio of the quadrupole moments of the two nuclei. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dipolar and Scalar Couplings in Solid State NMR of Quadrupolar Nuclei

 Most NMR-active nuclei found in the periodic table have a quadrupole moment. In combination with a nonsymmetric electron distribution a strong NMR-active interaction results, which very often overshadows the dipolar and scalar couplings. This article aims at reviewing how these interactions manifest themselves in quadrupolar NMR and how they can be exploited for resonance assignment and structure elucidation, in spite of the presence of a strong quadrupolar interaction.     

Effects of impurity on 35Cl and 14N NQR in p-chloraniline

The effect of impurity (p-toluidine) on the nuclear quadrupole resonance of two different nuclei (³⁵Cl and ¹⁴N) in the same molecule has been studied. The ¹⁴N resonance is unaffected whereas the ³⁵Cl resonance is greatly reduced.     

Dipolar and Scalar Couplings in Solid State NMR of Quadrupolar Nuclei

Summary.  Most NMR-active nuclei found in the periodic table have a quadrupole moment. In combination with a nonsymmetric electron distribution a strong NMR-active interaction results, which very often overshadows the dipolar and scalar couplings. This article aims at reviewing how these interactions manifest themselves in quadrupolar NMR and how they can be exploited for resonance assignment and structure elucidation, in spite of the presence of a strong quadrupolar interaction. E-mail: alexej.jerschow@nyu.edu Received April 16, 2002; accepted May 15, 2002     

Rapid Identification of Halogen Bonds in Co‐Crystalline Powders via 127I Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Spectroscopy

¹²⁷I nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectroscopy is established as a rapid and robust method to indicate the formation of iodine–nitrogen halogen bonds in co‐crystalline powders. Once the relevant spectral frequency range has been established, diagnostic ¹²⁷I NQR spectra can be acquired in seconds. The method is demonstrated for a series of co‐crystals of 1,4‐diiodobenzene. Changes in the ¹²⁷I quadrupolar coupling constant (C_Q) by up to 74.4 MHz correlate with the length of the C?I donor covalent bond and inversely with the I???N halogen‐bond length. The predictive power of this technique is validated on two previously unknown co‐crystalline powders prepared mechanochemically. Single‐crystal growth via co‐sublimation and structure determination by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction cross‐validates the findings. Natural localized molecular‐orbital analyses provide insight into the origins of the quadrupolar coupling constants.     

Spatially resolved spectroscopy and structurally encoded imaging by magnetic resonance force microscopy of quadrupolar spin systems

Enhancement of the sensitivity of magnetic resonance force microscopy allowed the extension of the technique to observe half-integer quadrupolar nuclei. This is demonstrated for various different compounds and nuclei with different spin numbers. The possibility of obtaining spatially localized spectral information through the quadrupole interaction is implemented by using nutation NMR. This enables us to superimpose a contrast function on the image of materials depending on their local lattice structure. This opens up new possibilities for both surface and subsurface studies in materials chemistry.     

A Combined Solid‐State NMR and X‐ray Crystallography Study of the Bromide Ion Environments in Triphenylphosphonium Bromides

Multinuclear (³¹P and ^79/81Br), multifield (9.4, 11.75, and 21.1 T) solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance experiments are performed for seven phosphonium bromides bearing the triphenylphosphonium cation, a molecular scaffold found in many applications in chemistry. This is undertaken to fully characterise their bromine electric field gradient (EFG) tensors, as well as the chemical shift (CS) tensors of both the halogen and the phosphorus nuclei, providing a rare and novel insight into the local electronic environments surrounding them. New crystal structures, obtained from single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, are reported for six compounds to aid in the interpretation of the NMR data. Among them is a new structure of BrPPh₄, because the previously reported one was inconsistent with our magnetic resonance data, thereby demonstrating how NMR data of non‐standard nuclei can correct or improve X‐ray diffraction data. Our results indicate that, despite sizable quadrupolar interactions, ^79/81Br magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a powerful characterisation tool that allows for the differentiation between chemically similar bromine sites, as shown through the range in the characteristic NMR parameters. ^35/37Cl solid‐state NMR data, obtained for an analogous phosphonium chloride sample, provide insight into the relationship between unit cell volume, nuclear quadrupolar coupling constants, and Sternheimer antishielding factors. The experimental findings are complemented by gauge‐including projector‐augmented wave (GIPAW) DFT calculations, which substantiate our experimentally determined strong dependence of the largest component of the bromine CS tensor, δ₁₁, on the shortest Br? P distance in the crystal structure, a finding that has possible application in the field of NMR crystallography. This trend is explained in terms of Ramsey’s theory on paramagnetic shielding. Overall, this work demonstrates how careful NMR studies of underexploited exotic nuclides, such as ^79/81Br, can afford insights into structure and bonding environments in the solid state.     

Comparative modulation analysis of electron spin echo signals from oxidized chlorophyll a in vitro and P 700 centres in chloroplasts

A comparative analysis of electron spin echo modulation effects from ¹⁴N nuclei of pyrrole rings for Chla⁺ and P 700⁺ has been performed, yielding parameters of quadrupole and isotropic hyperfine couplings with nitrogen nuclei in these paramagnetic centres.     

Stark effect on the nuclear quadrupole resonance of n in an asymmetric field gradient: I. Line shape

Nuclear quadrupole resonance line shapes in the presence of the Stark effect were studied in the case of asymmetric field gradients, where the exciting magnetic field forms an arbitrary angle with the electric field. This study was performed in order to interpret ¹⁴N resonance results but it can also be extended to other nuclei.     

Solid‐state NMR Spectroscopy of Quadrupolar Nuclei in Inorganic Chemistry

We here review the principles and applications of solid‐state NMR spectroscopy of quadrupolar nuclei, with a special emphasis on structural studies of inorganic solids. Most NMR‐observable nuclei have spin I > 1/2, and possess a quadrupole moment. The resulting quadrupolar interaction severely broadens the resonances, but also encapsulates valuable information about the symmetry of the electronic surroundings of the observed nucleus. The effect of the quadrupolar interaction, as well as that of the chemical shift and dipolar interaction, on solid‐state NMR spectra is examined in this article. To regain good resolution, specifically designed NMR techniques exist to remove the quadrupolar broadening, i.e. overtone and MQMAS spectroscopy, the principles of which are outlined here. In addition, the possibility of distance measurements via the dipolar interaction using the REDOR technique is discussed. The combined information derived from distance measurements, quadrupolar and chemical shift parameters can be helpful for determination of the crystal structure, or for detection of impurity phases, as illustrated by surveying a number of case studies covering spin I = 1, 3/2, 5/2 and 7/2.     

From Molecular to Cluster Properties: Rotational Spectroscopy of 2-Aminopyridine and of Its Biomimetic Cluster with Water

We report the observation and analysis of the rotational spectrum of a 1:1 cluster between 2-aminopyridine and water (AMW) carried out with supersonic expansion Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy at 4.7–16.5 GHz. Measurements of the 2-aminopyridine monomer (AMP) were also extended up to 333 GHz for the room-temperature rotational spectrum and to resolved hyperfine splitting resulting from the presence of two ¹⁴N quadrupolar nuclei. Supersonic expansion measurements for both AMP and AMW were also carried out for two synthesized isotopic species with single deuteration on the phenyl ring. Nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure has also been resolved for AMW and the derived splitting constants were used as an aid in structural analysis. The structure of the AMW cluster was determined from the three sets of available rotational constants and the hydrogen bonding configuration is compared with those for clusters with water of similarly sized single-ring molecules. Experimental results aided by quantum chemistry computations allow the conclusion that the water molecule is unusually strongly bound by two hydrogen bonds, OH^...N and O^...HN, to the NCNH atomic chain of AMP with the potential to replace hydrogen bonds to the identical structural segment in cytosine and adenine in CT and AT nucleic acid base pairs.     

Nuclear quadrupole resonance of 14N in imidazole and related compounds

Using the technique of nuclear double resonance with spin mixing by level crossing, the nuclear quadrupole resonance of ¹⁴N has been measured in L-histidine, D-L-histidine, L-histidine hydrochloride monohydrate, sodium urocanate and urocanic acid at 77 K. The nuclear quadrupole resonance of both ¹⁴N and ²D has been measured in deuterated imidazole at 77 K. The previously measured spectra for normal imidazole have been positively assigned with the electric field gradient parameters for the tri-coordinated nitrogen site given by e²qQ/h = 1424 kHz and η = 0.980, and for the di-coordinated nitrogen site by e²qQ/h = 3267 kHz and η = 0.129.     

Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Techniques for the Structural Characterization of Geminal Alane-Phosphane Frustrated Lewis Pairs and Secondary Adducts

The first comprehensive solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) characterization of geminal alane-phosphane frustrated Lewis pairs (Al/P FLPs) is reported. Their relevant NMR parameters (isotropic chemical shifts, direct and indirect ²⁷Al-³¹P spin-spin coupling constants, and ²⁷Al nuclear electric quadrupole coupling tensor components) have been determined by numerical analysis of the experimental NMR line shapes and compared with values computed from the known crystal structures by using density functional theory (DFT) methods. Our work demonstrates that the ³¹P NMR chemical shifts for the studied Al/P FLPs are very sensitive to slight structural inequivalences. The ²⁷Al NMR central transition signals are spread out over a broad frequency range (>200 kHz), owing to the presence of strong nuclear electric quadrupolar interactions that can be well-reproduced by the static ²⁷Al wideband uniform rate smooth truncation (WURST) Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (WCPMG) NMR experiment. ²⁷Al chemical shifts and quadrupole tensor components offer a facile and clear distinction between three- and four-coordinate aluminum environments. For measuring internuclear Al⋅⋅⋅P distances a new resonance-echo saturation-pulse double-resonance (RESPDOR) experiment was developed by using efficient saturation via frequency-swept WURST pulses. The successful implementation of this widely applicable technique indicates that internuclear Al⋅⋅⋅P distances in these compounds can be measured within a precision of ±0.1 Å.     

Probing the Local Structure of Pure Ionic Liquid Salts with Solid‐ and Liquid‐State NMR

Room‐temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are gaining increasing interest and are considered part of the green chemistry paradigm due to their negligible vapour pressure and ease of recycling. Evidence of liquid‐state order, observed by IR and Raman spectroscopy, diffraction studies, and simulated by ab initio methods, has been reported in the literature. Here, quadrupolar nuclei are used as NMR probes to extract information about the solid and possible residual order in the liquid state of RTILs. To this end, the anisotropic nature and field dependence of quadrupolar and chemical shift interactions are exploited. Relaxation time measurements and a search for residual second‐order quadrupolar coupling were employed to investigate the molecular motions present in the liquid state and infer what kind of order is present. The results obtained indicate that on a timescale of ～10^?8 sec or longer, RTILs behave as isotropic liquids without residual order.     

Nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure in the microwave spectrum of HCl-N2O: electric field gradient perturbation of N2O by HCl

The microwave spectra of six isotopomers of HCl-N(2)O have been obtained in the 7-19 GHz region with a pulsed molecular beam, Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. The nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure due to all quadrupolar nuclei is resolved and the spectra are analyzed using the Watson S-reduced Hamiltonian with the inclusion of nuclear quadrupole coupling interactions. The spectroscopic constants determined include rotational constants, quartic and sextic centrifugal distortion constants, and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants for each quadrupolar nucleus. Due to correlations of the structural parameters, the effective structure of the complex cannot be obtained by fitting to the spectroscopic constants of the six isotopomers. Instead, the parameters for each isotopomer are calculated from the A and C rotational constants and the chlorine nuclear quadrupole coupling constant along the a-axis, chi(aa). There are two possible structures; the one in which hydrogen of HCl interacts with the more electronegative oxygen of N(2)O is taken to represent the complex. The two subunits are approximately slipped parallel. For H (35)Cl-(14)N(2)O, the distance between the central nitrogen and chlorine is 3.5153 A and the N(2)O and HCl subunits form angles of 72.30 degrees and 119.44 degrees with this N-Cl axis, respectively. The chlorine and oxygen atoms occupy the opposite, obtuse vertices of the quadrilateral formed by O, central N, Cl, and H. Nuclear quadrupole coupling constants show that while the electric field gradient of the HCl subunit remains essentially unchanged upon complexation, there is electronic rearrangement about the two nitrogen nuclei in N(2)O.     

13C N.M.R. and 14N N.Q.R. in ferroelectric liquid crystals Polar versus quadrupolar ordering

¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance and ¹⁴N nuclear quadrupole resonance spectra of ferroelectric smectic C*liquid crystals and their non-chiral analogues allow for a microscopic determination of the polar and quadrupolar (or bipolar) biasing of rotation around the long molecular axis as well as for a determination of the anisotropy in the fluctuations of this axis. The results show that the microscopic origin of the biquadratic coupling between the polarization and the tilt, which has been recently introduced into the extended Landau model of the S_A-S*_C transition, is the quadrupolar (or bipolar) rotational bias induced by the anisotropy in the fluctuations of the long molecular axis. The tilt induced anisotropy in the fluctuations is practically identical in chiral and non-chiral smectic C phases.     

N nuclear quadrupole resonance of picolinic,nicotinic, isonicotinic and dinicotinic acids

The ¹⁴N nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) quadrupole coupling tensors of picolinic, nicotinic, isonicotinic and dinicotinic acids have been determined. Two different ¹⁴N quadrupole coupling constants 1007 kHz and 4159 kHz have been observed for picolinic acid demonstrating the presence of both protonated and non-protonated nitrogen atoms in this system in the solid. Only one set of non-protonated ¹⁴N NQR lines has been observed in other pyridinecarboxylic acids demonstrating the absence of the protonated zwitter ion forms observed in picolinic acid. The non-protonated ¹⁴N quadrupole coupling constant is the highest for the non-protonated nitrogen in picolinic acid and decreases to 3774 kHz in nicotinic acid and 3570 kHz in isonicotinic acid. It is the lowest in dinicotinic acid where the corresponding ¹⁴N quadrupole coupling constant is 2794 kHz. The observed anomalous decrease in the ¹⁴N quadrupole coupling constant of dinicotinic acid with decreasing temperature is tentatively explained as reflecting the increase in the residence time of the N–H?O bonded proton in the potential well close to the nitrogen.