13C NMR of tunnelling methyl groups

The dipolar interactions between the protons and the central ¹³C nucleus of a ¹³CH₃ group are used to study rotational tunnelling and incoherent dynamics of such groups in molecular solids. Single-crystal ¹³C NMR spectra are derived for arbitrary values of the tunnel frequency ν_t. Similarities to ESR and ²H NMR are pointed out. The method is applied to three different materials. In the hydroquinone/acetonitrile clathrate, the unique features in the ¹³C NMR spectra which arise from tunnelling with a tunnel frequency that is much larger than the dipolar coupling between the methyl protons and the ¹³C nucleus are demonstrated, and the effects of incoherent dynamics are studied. The broadening of the ¹³C resonances is related to the width of the quasi-elastic line in neutron scattering. Selective magnetization transfer experiments for studying slow incoherent dynamics are proposed. For the strongly hindered methyl groups of L-alanine, an upper limit for ν_t is derived from the ¹³C NMR spectrum. In aspirin? (acetylsalicylic acid), incoherent reorientations dominate the spectra down to the lowest temperatures studied; their rate apparently increases with decreasing temperature below 25 K.