Proton magnetic resonance study of the phase transitions of [N(CH3)4]2BCl4 (B=Co, Cu, Zn, and Cd) single crystals

The proton spin-lattice relaxation rates in N(CH₃)₄]₂BCl₄ (B=⁵⁹Co, ⁶³Cu, ⁶⁷Zn, and ¹¹³Cd) single crystals grown using the slow evaporation method were investigated over the temperature range 120-400 K. It was found that the relaxation processes of ¹H for all the N(CH₃)₄]₂BCl₄ crystals can be described with single exponential functions. The changes in the ¹H relaxation behavior in the neighborhood of the phase transition temperatures are used to detect changes in the state of internal motion. From the ¹H spin-lattice relaxation rate measurements for N(CH₃)₄]₂BCl₄ crystals, the activation energies were calculated for each phase. The large values of the activation energies indicate that the N(CH₃)₄ groups are significantly affected during the transitions. Although these N(CH₃)₄]₂BCl₄ crystals all belong to the group of A₂BX₄-type crystals, their ¹H spin-lattice relaxation rates have different temperature dependences and indicate the occurrence of different molecular motions within the crystals. We additionally show for the first time that the differences in ¹H spin-lattice relaxation rates among the N(CH₃)₄]₂BCl₄ (B=⁵⁹Co, ⁶³Cu, ⁶⁷Zn, and ¹¹³Cd) single crystals arise from differences in the electron structures of the metal ions within the series.