Improved NMR transfer of magnetization from protons to half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei at moderate and high magic-angle spinning frequencies

Half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei are the only magnetic isotopes for the majority of the chemical elements. Therefore, the transfer of polarization from protons to these isotopes under magic-angle spinning (MAS) can provide precious insights into the interatomic proximities in hydrogen-containing solids, including organic, hybrid, nanostructured and biological solids. This transfer has recently been combined with dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) in order to enhance the NMR signal of half-integer quadrupolar isotopes. However, the cross-polarization transfer lacks robustness in the case of quadrupolar nuclei, and we have recently introduced as an alternative technique a D-RINEPT (through-space refocused insensitive nuclei enhancement by polarization transfer) scheme combining a heteronuclear dipolar recoupling built from adiabatic pulses and a continuous-wave decoupling. This technique has been demonstrated at 9.4 T with moderate MAS frequencies, νR≈10–15 kHz, in order to transfer the DNP-enhanced 1H polarization to quadrupolar nuclei. Nevertheless, polarization transfers from protons to quadrupolar nuclei are also required at higher MAS frequencies in order to improve the 1H resolution. We investigate here how this transfer can be achieved at νR≈20 and 60 kHz. We demonstrate that the D-RINEPT sequence using adiabatic pulses still produces efficient and robust transfers but requires large radio-frequency (rf) fields, which may not be compatible with the specifications of most MAS probes. As an alternative, we introduce robust and efficient variants of the D-RINEPT and PRESTO (phase-shifted recoupling effects a smooth transfer of order) sequences using symmetry-based recoupling schemes built from single and composite π pulses. Their performances are compared using the average Hamiltonian theory and experiments at B0=18.8 T on γ-alumina and isopropylamine-templated microporous aluminophosphate (AlPO4-14), featuring low and significant 1H–1H dipolar interactions, respectively. These experiments demonstrate that the 1H magnetization can be efficiently transferred to 27Al nuclei using D-RINEPT with SR412(270090180) recoupling and using PRESTO with R2227(1800) or R1676(270090180) schemes at νR=20 or 62.5 kHz, respectively. The D-RINEPT and PRESTO recoupling schemes complement each other since the latter is affected by dipolar truncation, whereas the former is not. We also analyze the losses during these recoupling schemes, and we show how these magnetization transfers can be used at νR=62.5 kHz to acquire in 72 min 2D HETCOR (heteronuclear correlation) spectra between 1H and quadrupolar nuclei, with a non-uniform sampling (NUS).

Improved NMR transfer of magnetization from protons to half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei at moderate and high MAS frequencies

Half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei are the only magnetic isotopes for the majority of the chemical elements. Therefore, the transfer of polarization from protons to these isotopes under magic-angle spinning (MAS) can provide precious insights into the interatomic proximities in hydrogen-containing solids, including organic, hybrid, nanostructured and biological solids. Furthermore, this transfer has recently been combined with dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) in order to enhance the NMR signal of half-integer quadrupolar isotope. Nevertheless, the cross-polarization transfer lacks of robustness in the case of quadrupolar nuclei and we have recently introduced as an alternative technique a through-space refocused insensitive nuclei enhancement by polarization transfer (D-RINEPT) scheme combining hetero-nuclear dipolar recoupling built from adiabatic pulses and continuous wave decoupling. This technique has been demonstrated at 9.4 T with moderate MAS frequencies, νR ≈ 10-15 kHz, in order to transfer the DNP-enhanced 1H polarization to quadrupolar nuclei. Nevertheless, polarization transfers from protons to quadrupolar nuclei are also required at higher MAS frequencies in order to improve the resolution of 1H spectra. We investigate how this transfer can be achieved at νR ≈ 20 and 60 kHz. We demonstrate that the D-RINEPT sequence using adiabatic pulses still produces efficient and robust transfer but requires large rf-fields, which may not be compatible with the specifications of commonly employed MAS NMR probes. As an alternative, we introduce robust and efficient variants of D-RINEPT and PRESTO (phase-shifted recoupling effects a smooth transfer of order) sequences using symmetry-based recoupling schemes built from single and composite π-pulses. Their performances are compared using the average Hamiltonians and experiments at B0 = 18.8 T on γ-alumina and isopropylamine templated microporous aluminophosphate AlPO4-14, featuring low and significant 1H-1H dipolar interactions, respectively. These experiments demonstrate that the 1H magnetization can be efficiently transferred to 27Al nuclei using D-RINEPT with SR412(270090180) recoupling, and PRESTO with R2227(1800) or R1672(270090180) schemes at νR = 20 or 62.5 kHz, respectively. The D-RINEPT and PRESTO recouplings complement each other since the latter is affected by dipolar truncation, whereas the former is not.

What Are the Relative Intensities of the Components of NMR Spectral Multiplets from Quadrupolar Nuclei in Uniformly Anisotropic Media?

Stretched hydrogels make uniformly anisotropic environments for quadrupolar nuclei such as 2H, 23Na, and 133Cs. Such surroundings cause the partial alignment of nuclear spin bearing ions and molecules that is sufficiently pronounced to alter the nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of the guest species. In most cases, resonance splittings are directly related to the spin quantum number I. The relative intensities of the components of the resonance multiplets can be inferred from basic quantum mechanics.