Zn NMR investigation of zinc halides

⁶⁷Zn NMR has been used as a probe to measure the electric field gradients at the metal site in the zinc halides ZnF₂, γ-ZnCl₂, ZnBr₂ and ZnI₂ and Rb₂ZnCl₄ at room temperature. In addition two hydration states have been detected for ZnSO₄. For ZnF₂ and γ-ZnCl₂ an ab initio calculation of the electric field gradient at the Zn site using the W 97 code agrees well with the experimentally observed values.