Spectral editing of 13C NMR spectra via two-dimensional pulse techniques

Two-dimensional pulse techniques for subspectral editing in ¹³C NMR spectroscopy are described. The experiments are compared with existing one-dimensional editing methods with respect to sensitivity, information content, and practical performance. In combination with a computer program for fully automatic extraction of one-dimensional edited subspectra and radiofrequency field strength information, the two-dimensional presented experiments are useful as setup experiments in ¹³C NMR.     

Spectral editing in (13)C MAS NMR under moderately fast spinning conditions

Novel procedures for the spectral assignment of peaks in high-resolution solid-state (13)C NMR are discussed and demonstrated. These methods are based on the observation that at moderate and already widely available rates of magic-angle spinning (10--14 kHz MAS), CH and CH(2) moieties behave to a large extent as if they were effectively isolated from the surrounding proton reservoir. Dipolar-based analogs of editing techniques that are commonly used in liquid-state NMR such as APT and INEPT can then be derived, while avoiding the need for periods of homonuclear (1)H--(1)H multipulse decoupling. The resulting experiments end up being very simple, essentially tuning-free, and capable of establishing unambiguous distinctions among CH, CH(2), and --C--/-CH(3) carbon sites. The principles underlying such sequences were explored using both numerical calculations and experimental measurements, and once validated their editing applications were illustrated on a number of compounds.     

On the 13C CP/MAS spectra of leucine.

The CP/MAS 13C NMR spectra of crystalline L-leucine and DL-leucine at 7 T are compared with previously reported spectra at lower field strengths. An increasing dominance of chemical shift effects over residual 14N-13C dipolar interactions is observed on the C alpha and C beta splittings with increasing field strength. A new structure is observed in the 25 ppm region of both samples. The spectra in this region were assigned by application of the depolarisation-repolarisation method. The assignment showed differences in the ordering of peaks between solid state and liquid state chemical shifts.     

Magnetic susceptibility effects on 13C MAS NMR spectra of carbon materials and graphite

13C high-resolution solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was employed to study carbon materials prepared through the thermal decomposition of four different organic precursors (rice hulls, endocarp of babassu coconut, peat, and PVC). For heat treatment temperatures (HTTs) above about 600 C, all materials presented 13C NMR spectra composed of a unique resonance line associated with carbon atoms in aromatic planes. With increasing HTT a continuous broadening of this resonance and a diamagnetic shift in its central frequency were verified for all samples. The evolution of the magnitude and anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility of the heat-treated carbon samples with HTT explains well these findings. It is shown that these results are better understood when a comparison is made with the features of the 13C NMR spectrum of polycrystalline graphite, for which the magnetic susceptibility effect is also present and is much more pronounced.     

1H MAS, 13C CP/MAS, and 2H NMR spectra studies of piperidinium {\emph{p}}-chlorobenzoate

Anomalous H/D isotope effects were detected in the ¹H MAS NMR spectra of piperidinium p-chlorobenzoate (C₅H₁₀NH $_{2}{^{+}}\cdot $ ClC₆H₄COO^???) upon deuterium substitution of hydrogen atoms which form two kinds of N-H?O H-bonds in the crystal; in contrast to these spectra, only slight chemical shifts were recorded in ¹³C CP/MAS NMR spectra. ²H NMR spectrum of the deuterated sample show quadrupole coupling constants of 148 and 108 kHz, and reveal that there are a few motions contributing to the electric-field modulation of the ²H nucleus. The ¹H MAS NMR spectra of piperidinium p-chlrobenzoate-d ₁₆ (C₅D₁₀ND $_{2}{^{+}}\cdot $ ClC₆D₄COO^???) and -d ₁₄ (C₅D₁₀NH $_{2}{^{+}}\cdot $ ClC₆D₄COO^???) revealed that the change in the envelope is caused by chemical shifts of each signal upon deuteration. Calculations based on the density-functional-theory showed that the N-H distance along the crystallographic a-axis mainly contributes to the anomalous isotope effects on ¹H MAS NMR envelopes.     

Multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning NMR with cross-polarization: Spectral editing of high-resolution spectra of quadrupolar nuclei

An experiment is presented that combines the multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning (MQMAS) technique with cross-polarization (CP). As a preliminary test of this new method, we measured and compared the ²⁷Al 3QMAS and ¹⁹F → ²⁷A1 CP 3QMAS spectra of a fluorinated AlPO₄ aluminophosphate. Complete discrimination between the fluorinated and nonfluorinated Al sites was easily achieved, which demonstrates the usefulness of CP MQMAS for spectral editing. Future applications of this experiment will include other spin pairs and heteronuclear correlation NMR spectroscopy.     

Spectral assignments based on the 13C NMR spectra of mixed liquid crystals of opposite diamagnetic anisotropies

The proton-decoupled ¹³C NMR spectra of mixtures of liquid crystals with opposite diamagnetic anisotropies have been studied in the natural abundance of ¹³C. A new method to assign the spectral lines to specific carbons in the liquid crystalline phase has been developed. For this purpose, the assignments of lines in the isotropic media are required, and they were obtained from two-dimensional hetero-COSY experiments. From the spectra in the “critical” mixtures where both the orientations of the liquid crystal directors, with the alignments along and perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field, “coexist,” the ¹³C chemical-shift anisotropies have been determined, assuming uniaxial symmetry.     

Crystal structure and 13C CP/MAS NMR of the p-xylene clathrate of Dianin's compound

Single-crystal X-ray diffraction and ¹³C solid state NMR spectroscopy were used to characterize the structure and dynamics of the p-xylene clathrate of Dianin's compound. In contrast to conclusions obtained from single-crystal ²H NMR and modelling, the diffraction results suggest there is a single (symmetry disordered) guest site without any significant distortion of the host framework. A single xylene guest statistically disordered over six overlapping equivalent positions can account for the ¹³C NMR spectrum at room temperature. The high crystal-lographic symmetry arises from space averaging. At high temperatures the ¹³C spectrum is consistent with the onset of dynamic processes that result in higher effective symmetry.     

Resolution enhancement in MAS solid-state NMR by application of 13C homonuclear scalar decoupling during acquisition

Spectral resolution imposes a major problem on the evaluation of MAS solid-state NMR experiments as larger biomolecular systems are concerned. We show in this communication that decoupling of the (13)C-(13)C homonuclear scalar couplings during stroboscopic detection can be successfully applied to increase the spectral resolution up to a factor of 2-2.5 and sensitivity up to a factor of 1.2. We expect that this approach will be useful for the study of large biomolecular systems like membrane proteins and amyloidogenic peptides and proteins where spectral overlap is critical. The experiments are demonstrated on a uniformly (13)C,(15)N-labelled sample of Nac-Val-Leu-OH and applied to a uniformly (13)C,(15)N-enriched sample of a hexameric amyloidogenic peptide.     

Quantitative characterization of coal structure by high-resolution CP/MAS 13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy

A method for quantitatively characterizing the carbon skeletal structure of coal by variable contact time experiment using high-resolution CP/MAS ¹³C solid-state NMR spectroscopy is proposed in this paper. The initial polarization transfer intensity from protons directly bonded with carbons, instead of dipolar-dephasing techniques which had to run on a lower frequency NMR spectrometer (100.02 MHz for proton), was used to divide the bridgehead and protonated aromatic carbons, making all the NMR data in this paper obtained on a high frequency NMR spectrometer (500.12 MHz for proton). On this basis, the fractions of different carbons in coal were further divided by the initial polarization transfer intensity from spin diffusion of protons unbonded with carbons. The structure of Naomaohu coal, a subbituminous coal from China, was measured. The change of polarization transfer with contact time was analyzed quantitatively. The fractions of aromatic, aliphatic, carboxyl and carbonyl carbons, and corrective aromaticity are 0.61, 0.39, 0.1 and 0.51, respectively. The fractions of protonated and bridgehead aromatic carbons are 0.22 and 0.09, respectively. These results agreed with literatures, and bond concentration calculated by the carbon skeletal structure distribution of coal was reasonable.     

A generalized approach to automated NMR peak list editing: application to reduced dimensionality triple resonance spectra

We present an algorithm and program called Pattern Picker that performs editing of raw peak lists derived from multidimensional NMR experiments with characteristic peak patterns. Pattern Picker detects groups of correlated peaks within peak lists from reduced dimensionality triple resonance (RD-TR) NMR spectra, with high fidelity and high yield. With typical quality RD-TR NMR data sets, Pattern Picker performs almost as well as human analysis, and is very robust in discriminating real peak sets from noise and other artifacts in unedited peak lists. The program uses a depth-first search algorithm with short-circuiting to efficiently explore a search tree representing every possible combination of peaks forming a group. The Pattern Picker program is particularly valuable for creating an automated peak picking/editing process. The Pattern Picker algorithm can be applied to a broad range of experiments with distinct peak patterns including RD, G-matrix Fourier transformation (GFT) NMR spectra, and experiments to measure scalar and residual dipolar coupling, thus promoting the use of experiments that are typically harder for a human to analyze. Since the complexity of peak patterns becomes a benefit rather than a drawback, Pattern Picker opens new opportunities in NMR experiment design.     

Spectral editing in MAS NMR of aprotic solids P---Cd cross-polarization and heteronuclear double-quantum filtering studies in II-IV-V2 semiconductor alloys

Magic-angle-spinning NMR spectra of aprotic solids, ceramics and glasses frequently suffer from poor site resolution due to wide chemical shift distribution effects. In such cases, cross-polarization and heteronuclear double-quantum filtering experiments involving nuclei other than ¹H offer unique spectral editing capabilities. The utility of such assignment techniques for examining site populations in semiconductor alloys is demonstrated for the chalcopyrite systems CdGeAs_2−xP_x, CdSiAs_2−xP_x and Zn_xCd_1−xGeP₂. The results permit a distinction between local and non-local effects on experimental chemical shift trends and reveal that compositional dependences observed in these alloys are dominated by non-local chemical shift contributions.     

Observation of nitrogen-14, carbon-13 indirect spin-spin coupling in high-resolution 13C CP/MAS spectra of solids.

The 13C CP/MAS NMR spectrum of [(n-C3H7)4N][Cd(SCN)3], 1, indicates the presence of three non-equivalent thiocyanate ligands, in agreement with the results of a recent single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. Examination of the 13C MAS line shapes allows direct measurement of the indirect spin-spin coupling constants, 1J(14N, 13C) = 16 +/- 1 Hz and 2J(111/113Cd, 13C) = 75 +/- 5 Hz, for the unique N-bonded thiocyanate ligand. This is the first reported measurement of 1J(14N, 13C) and 2J(111/113Cd, 13C) in the solid state. Possible reasons for the failure to observe 1J(14N, 13C) values in previous high-resolution 13C CP/MAS NMR studies are summarized.     

Thermal maturity of type II kerogen from the New Albany Shale assessed by 13C CP/MAS NMR

Thermal maturity of oil and gas source rocks is typically quantified in terms of vitrinite reflectance, which is based on optical properties of terrestrial woody remains. This study evaluates 13C CP/MAS NMR parameters in kerogen (i.e., the insoluble fraction of organic matter in sediments and sedimentary rocks) as proxies for thermal maturity in marine-derived source rocks where terrestrially derived vitrinite is often absent or sparse. In a suite of samples from the New Albany Shale (Middle Devonian to the Early Mississippian, Illinois Basin) the abundance of aromatic carbon in kerogen determined by 13C CP/MAS NMR correlates linearly well with vitrinite reflectance.     

MAS NMR spectra of quadrupolar nuclei in disordered solids: the Czjzek model

Structural disorder at the scale of two to three atomic positions around the probe nucleus results in variations of the EFG and thus in a distribution of the quadrupolar interaction. This distribution is at the origin of the lineshape tailing toward high fields which is often observed in the MAS NMR spectra of quadrupolar nuclei in disordered solids. The Czjzek model provides an analytical expression for the joint distribution of the NMR quadrupolar parameters upsilon(Q) and eta from which a lineshape can be predicted. This model is derived from the Central Limit Theorem and the statistical isotropy inherent to disorder. It is thus applicable to a wide range of materials as we have illustrated for 27Al spectra on selected examples of glasses (slag), spinels (alumina), and hydrates (cement aluminum hydrates). In particular, when relevant, the use of the Czjzek model allows a quantitative decomposition of the spectra and an accurate extraction of the second moment of the quadrupolar product. In this respect, it is important to realize that only rotational invariants such as the quadrupolar product can make sense to describe the quadrupolar interaction in disordered solids.     

A 4-mm probe for (13)C CP/MAS NMR of solids at 21.15 T

The design of a broadband 4-mm magic-angle spinning (MAS) X-(1)H/(19)F double resonance probe for cross-polarization (CP)/MAS NMR studies at 21.15 T ((1)H at 900 MHz) is described. The high-frequency (1)H/(19)F channel employs a new and efficient transmission line tuning design. The first (13)C CP/MAS NMR spectra recorded at 21.15 T have been obtained with this probe and exhibit the best S/N per milligram sample of hexamethylbenzene achieved so far for a 4-mm rotor.     

The 2D MAS NMR spin-echo experiment: the determination of 13C-13C J couplings in a solid-state cellulose sample

A simple 13C MAS spin-echo experiment is applied to a partially 13C-labelled cellulose sample extracted from wood. 13C-13C J couplings are determined even though considerable chemical disorder leads to observed linewidths in the normal 1D 13C CP MAS spectrum which far exceed the J couplings. The fitting of the experimental data also allows the quantification of the degree of isotopic enrichment.     

Multi-scale NMR characterisation of mesostructured materials using 1H-->13C through-bond polarisation transfer,fast MAS,and 1H spin diffusion

A NMR method for the characterisation of materials at different length scales, robust and simple to implement, is presented. It combines selection of 1H-13C pairs by a through-bond polarisation transfer (INEPT here) and exploration of larger distances by the introduction of 1H spin diffusion. This characterisation method is well adapted to the highest MAS rates and takes benefits of it. The effect of 1H dephasing on the efficiency of the 1H-->13C through-bond polarisation transfer is determined. This allows consecutively the quantification of signals. Mesostructured spherical silica-based particles containing CTA+ cations were studied by this multi-scale characterisation method. Contrasted spin diffusion curves were found and qualitatively explained by differences in terms of mobility and spatial distributions.     

Slow-down of 13C spin diffusion in organic solids by fast MAS: a CODEX NMR Study.

One- and two-dimensional 13C exchange nuclear magnetic resonance experiments under magic-angle spinning (MAS) can provide detailed information on slow segmental reorientations and chemical exchange in organic solids, including polymers and proteins. However, observations of dynamics on the time scale of seconds or longer are hampered by the competing process of dipolar 13C spin exchange (spin diffusion). In this Communication, we show that fast MAS can significantly slow down the dipolar spin exchange effect for unprotonated carbon sites. The exchange is measured quantitatively using the centerband-only detection of exchange technique, which enables the detection of exchange at any spinning speed, even in the absence of changes of isotropic chemical shifts. For chemically equivalent unprotonated 13C sites, the dipolar spin exchange rate is found to decrease slightly less than proportionally with the sample-rotation frequency, between 8 and 28 kHz. In the same range, the dipolar spin exchange rate for a glassy polymer with an inhomogeneously broadened MAS line decreases by a factor of 10. For methylene groups, no or only a minor slow-down of the exchange rate is found.