The impact of defects and crystal size on negative gas adsorption in DUT-49 analyzed by in situ 129Xe NMR spectroscopy.

The origin of crystal size-dependent adsorption behavior of flexible metal-organic frameworks is increasingly studied. In this contribution, we probe the solid-fluid interactions of DUT-49 crystals of different size by in situ 129Xe NMR spectroscopy at 200 K. With decreasing size of the crystals, the average solid-fluid interactions are found to decrease reflected by a decrease in chemical shift of adsorbed xenon from 230 to 200 ppm explaining the lack of adsorption-induced transitions for smaller crystals. However, recent studies propose that these results can also originate from the presence of lattice defects. To investigate the influence of defects on the adsorption behavior of DUT-49 we synthesized a series of samples with tailored defect concentrations and characterized them by in situ 129Xe NMR. In comparison to the results obtained for crystals with different size we find pronounced changes of the adsorption behavior and influence of the chemical shift only for very high concentrations of defects, which further emphasizes the important role of particle size phenomena.

The impact of defects and crystal size on negative gas adsorption in DUT-49 analyzed by in situ 129Xe NMR spectroscopy.

The origin of crystal size-dependent adsorption behavior of flexible metal-organic frameworks is increasingly studied. In this contribution, we probe the solid-fluid interactions of DUT-49 crystals of different size by in situ 129Xe NMR spectroscopy at 200 K. With decreasing size of the crystals, the average solid-fluid interactions are found to decrease reflected by a decrease in chemical shift of adsorbed xenon from 230 to 200 ppm explaining the lack of adsorption-induced transitions for smaller crystals. However, recent studies propose that these results can also originate from the presence of lattice defects. To investigate the influence of defects on the adsorption behavior of DUT-49 we synthesized a series of samples with tailored defect concentrations and characterized them by in situ 129Xe NMR. In comparison to the results obtained for crystals with different size we find pronounced changes of the adsorption behavior and influence of the chemical shift only for very high concentrations of defects, which further emphasizes the important role of particle size phenomena.

Probing Reversible Guest Binding with Hyperpolarized 129Xe-NMR: Characteristics and Applications for Cucurbit[n]urils

Cucurbit[n]urils (CB[n]s) are a family of macrocyclic host molecules that find various applications in drug delivery, molecular switching, and dye displacement assays. The CB[n]s with n = 5–7 have also been studied with 129Xe-NMR. They bind the noble gas with a large range of exchange rates. Starting with insights from conventional direct detection of bound Xe, this review summarizes recent achievements with chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) detection of efficiently exchanging Xe in various CB[n]-based supramolecular systems. Unprecedented sensitivity has been reached by combining the CEST method with hyperpolarized Xe, the production of which is also briefly described. Applications such as displacement assays for enzyme activity detection and rotaxanes as emerging types of Xe biosensors are likewise discussed in the context of biomedical applications and pinpoint future directions for translating this field to preclinical studies.