Testing the sensitivity limits of ³³S NMR: an ultra-wideline study of elemental sulfur

Abstract

Preliminary DFT investigations into the feasibility of using (33)S solid-state NMR to study organic and biological molecules suggest that very large (33)S quadrupolar coupling constants (>40MHz) are not uncommon. We have therefore investigated the possibility of using recently developed ultra-wideline techniques to record such (33)S powder patterns at a high magnetic field (21.1T). A WURST-echo sequence was used to record the spectrum from a>99.9% enriched sample of elemental sulfur, resulting in the largest (33)S quadrupolar coupling constant yet measured by solid-state NMR (C(Q)=43.3 MHz). Implications of this experiment are briefly discussed.