Abstract:Since zeolites are notoriously difficult to prepare as large single crystals, structure determination usually relies on powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). However, structure solution (i.e., deriving an initial structural model) directly from powder XRD data is often very difficult due to the diffraction phase problem and the high degree of overlap between the individual reflections, particularly for materials with the structural complexity of most zeolites. Here, we report a method for structure determination of zeolite crystal structures that combines powder XRD and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in which the crucial step of structure solution is achieved using solid-state 29 Si double-quantum dipolar recoupling NMR, which probes the distance-dependent dipolar interactions between naturally abundant 29 Si nuclei in the zeolite framework. For two purely siliceous zeolite blind test samples, we demonstrate that the NMR data can be combined with the unit cell parameters and space group to solve structural models that refine successfully against the powder XRD data.

The principal components of zeolite 29Si magnetic shielding tensors have been accurately measured and calculated for the first time. The experiments were performed at an ultrahigh magnetic field of 21.1 T in order to observe the small anisotropies of the 29Si shielding interactions that arise for Si atoms in near-tetrahedral geometries. A robust two-dimensional (2D) chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) recoupling pulse sequence was employed that enables quasi-static powder patterns to be resolved according to the isotropic chemical shifts. For the zeolites Sigma-2 and ZSM-12, it is demonstrated that the 29Si chemical shift (CS) tensor components measured by the recoupling experiment are in excellent agreement with those determined from spinning sidebands in slow magic-angle spinning (MAS) experiments. For the zeolite ZSM-5, the principal components of the 29Si CS tensors of 15 of the 24 Si sites were measured using the 2D CSA recoupling experiment, a feat that would not be possible with a slow MAS experiment due to the complexity of the spectrum. A simple empirical relationship between the 29Si CS tensors and local structural parameters could not be established. However, the 29Si magnetic shielding tensors calculated using Hartree-Fock ab initio calculations on clusters derived from the crystal structures are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. The accuracy of the calculations is strongly dependent on the quality of the crystal structure used in the calculation, indicating that the 29Si magnetic shielding interaction is extremely sensitive to the local structure around each Si atom. It is anticipated that the measurement and calculation of 29Si shielding tensors could be incorporated into the "NMR crystallography" of zeolites and other related silicate materials, possibly being used for structure refinements that may lead to crystal structures with very accurate Si and O atomic coordinates.

The location of the fluoride ion in tetrapropylammonium fluoride silicalite-1 ([TPA]-F-[Si-MFI]), an as-synthesized siliceous zeolite with the MFI topology, has been unambiguously determined using solidstate NMR experiments alone. With the 1 Hf 29 Si CP-INADEQUATE experiment, the 12 peaks in the highly resolved 29 Si MAS NMR spectrum of [TPA]-F-[Si-MFI] were assigned. Using these peak assignments it was possible to perform 1 H/ 19 F/ 29 Si triple resonance CP, REDOR, and TEDOR experiments to measure F-Si distances and thus locate the fluoride ion. It is covalently bonded to Si-9 in the [4 1 5 2 6 2 ] cage of the zeolite framework and exchanges between two "mirror-related" Si-9 sites, making them equivalent on the NMR time scale. The importance of this result and the general applicability of the approach are discussed.

A new 29Si solid-state MAS NMR experiment is described for investigating the framework structures of pure silica zeolites. The symmetry-based homonuclear dipolar recoupling sequence SR26411 has been incorporated into a two-dimensional NMR experiment to probe the Si-O-Si bonding connectivities and long-range Si-Si distances in zeolite frameworks. This dipolar recoupling sequence is shown to have a number of advantages over the J-coupling-based INADEQUATE experiment. For the clathrasil Sigma-2, it is demonstrated that there is excellent agreement between experimental double-quantum build-up curves obtained from a series of two-dimensional double-quantum correlation spectra and simulated curves which consider all Si-Si distances out to 8 A. This result suggests that this experiment could be used to solve zeolite frameworks with unknown structures.

An NMR structure refinement method for the NMR crystallography of zeolites is presented and demonstrated to give an NMR-determined crystal structure for the zeolite Sigma-2 that is in very good agreement with the single-crystal X-ray diffraction structure. The Si coordinates of the zeolite framework were solved from 29Si double-quantum NMR data obtained at a low magnetic field strength (7.0 T) and the Si and O coordinates were subsequently refined using the principal components of 29Si chemical shift tensors experimentally measured at an ultrahigh-field (21.1 T) and calculated using ab initio quantum chemical methods.

When analyzing I --> S variable contact time cross-polarization (CP) curves, the spin dynamics are usually assumed to be describable in the "fast CP regime" in which the growth of the S spin magnetization is governed by the rate of cross polarization while its decay is governed by the rate of I spin T1rho relaxation. However, in the investigation of the structures of zeolite-sorbate and other complexes by polarization transfer this will not necessarily be the case. We discuss the measurement of I --> S CP rate constants under the "slow CP regime" in which the rate of T1rho relaxation is fast compared to the rate of cross polarization, leading to a reversal of the usual assumptions such that the rate or growth is governed by the rate of I spin T1rho relaxation while the decay is governed by the rate of cross polarization (and the S spin T1rho relaxation). It is very important to recognize when a system is in the slow CP regime, as an analysis assuming the normal fast CP will lead to erroneous data. However, even when the slow CP regime is recognized, it is difficult to obtain absolute values for the CP rate constants from fits to standard CP curves, since the CP rate constant is correlated to the scaling factor, the contribution from 29Si T1rho relaxation is ignored, and it is difficult to obtain reliable data at very long contact times. The use of a 29Si{1H} CP "drain" or "depolarization" experiment, which measures absolute values of the CP rate constants, is therefore proposed as being most appropriate for theses situations. To illustrate the importance of these observations, measurements of the 1H-29Si CP rate constants in the p-dichlorobenzene/ZSM-5 sorbate-zeolite complex by 29Si{1H} CP and CP drain magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR experiments are presented and compared and used to determine the location of the guest sorbate molecules in the cavities of the host zeolite framework.

The local structure of the [SiO(4/2)F]- unit in fluoride-containing as-synthesized STF zeolite has been experimentally determined by a combination of solid-state NMR and microcrystal X-ray diffraction to be very close to trigonal bipyramidal. Because the fluoride ions are disordered over two sites, the resulting local structure of the [SiO(4/2)F]- unit from a conventional XRD refinement is an average between tetrahedral SiO(4/2) and five-coordinate [[SiO(4/2)F]-, giving an apparent F-Si distance longer than expected. The correct F-Si distance was determined by slow spinning MAS and fast spinning (19)F/(29)Si CP and REDOR solid-state NMR experiments and found to be between 1.72 and 1.79 A. In light of this, the X-ray structure was re-refined, including the disorder at Si3. The resulting local structure of the [SiO(4/2)F]- unit was very close to trigonal bipyramidal with a F-Si distance of 1.744 (6) A, in agreement with the NMR results and the prediction of Density Functional Theory calculations. In addition, further evidence for the existence of a covalent F-Si bond is provided by a (19)F-->(29)Si refocused INEPT experiment. The resonance for the five-coordinate species at -147.5 ppm in the (29)Si spectrum is a doublet due to the (19)F/(29)Si J-coupling of 165 Hz. The peaks in this doublet have remarkably different effective chemical shift anisotropies due to the interplay of the CSA, dipolar coupling, and J-coupling tensors. The distortions from tetrahedral geometry of the neighboring silicon atoms to the five-coordinate Si3 atom are manifested in increased delta(aniso) values. This information, along with F-Si distances measured by (19)F-->(29)Si CP experiments, makes it possible to assign half of the (29)Si resonances to unique tetrahedral sites. As well as determining the local geometry of the [SiO(4/2)F]- unit, the work presented here demonstrates the complementarity of the solid-state NMR and X-ray diffraction techniques and the advantages of using them together.

In this work, we examine two anhydrous polymorphs of caffeine, as well as the monohydrate, by high-field (21 T) NMR spectroscopy, and since suitable single crystals of the anhydrous forms could be obtained, the crystal structures were also determined. At high field, the 13C NMR spectra are simplified considerably over those obtained at low field as the effect of the 14N nuclear quadrupoles on the 13C resonances becomes minimal. The spectra of the two anhydrous polymorphs provide information about the number of distinct caffeine sites and indicate structural disorder. The NMR observations are consistent with single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which shows that the structures are indeed complicated by disorder. Furthermore, the space groups obtained previously from powder diffraction were, in fact, incorrect, R3̄c rather than R3c for the low-temperature polymorph and C2/c rather than Cc for the high-temperature polymorph. As a result, the structures are different from those proposed on the basis of modeling calculations.