Probing Quadrupolar Nuclei by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy: Recent Advances

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of quadrupolar nuclei has recently undergone remarkable development of capabilities for obtaining structural and dynamic information at the molecular level. This review summarizes the key achievements attained during the last couple of decades in solid-state NMR of both integer spin and half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei. We provide a concise description of the first- and second-order quadrupolar interactions, and their effect on the static and magic angle spinning (MAS) spectra. Methods are explained for efficient excitation of single- and multiple-quantum coherences, and acquisition of spectra under low- and high-resolution conditions. Most of all, we present a coherent, comparative description of the high-resolution methods for half-integer quadrupolar nuclei, including double rotation (DOR), dynamic angle spinning (DAS), multiple-quantum magic angle spinning (MQMAS), and satellite transition magic angle spinning (STMAS). Also highlighted are methods for processing and analysis of the spectra. Finally, we review methods for probing the heteronuclear and homonuclear correlations between the quadrupolar nuclei and their quadrupolar or spin-1/2 neighbors.