A deuterium NMR study of guest molecular dynamics in tris(5-acetyl-3-thienyl) methane inclusion compounds

Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and spin-lattice relaxation times (T1) are used to investigate the guest molecular dynamics of tris(5-acetyl-3-thienyl) methane (TATM) inclusion compounds. The seven guests: acetonitrile, nitromethane, dimethyl sulfoxide, benzene, mesitylene, ortho-xylene, and para-xylene show a wide variety of motional behaviour. The reorientation of acetonitrile in TATM and nitromethane in TATM were both modelled as precession on a cone, the base of which is more elliptical in shape for nitromethane, as would be expected considering their molecular symmetries. DMSO in TATM does not undergo any reorientation other than methyl rotation at the temperatures investigated. At low temperatures, the 2H lineshape and the deuterium spin-lattice relaxation time both depend on the rate of methyl rotation. Activation barriers of 11.7 (±0.4) kJ/mol and 11.2 (±0.5) kJ/mol were found from the two techniques, respectively. Benzene undergoes sixfold reorientation about the principal molecular axis; however, the rate is still greater than 108 Hz down to 113 K. The spin-lattice relaxation time profile does not reach a minimum on decreasing temperature to 112 K, while the slope of this plot provides an activation energy of 4.1 (±0.4) kJ/mol for the sixfold reorientation. The deuterium NMR spectra of mesitylene-d9 in TATM can be simulated using a model where the guest occupies two different sites in the TATM lattice, with the guest molecules performing in-plane C3 rotation either very rapidly (k > 108 Hz) or very slowly (k < 103 Hz), with the relative populations of each changing with temperature. Another model proposed suggests the possibility that there is a continuous distribution of motional rates, the median of which is increasing with temperature. This second model is more realistic; however, too many parameters are present to consider a detailed fit. Finally, both o-xylene and p-xylene are rigidly held in the TATM clathrate, while rotation of the methyl groups is rapid. Key words: inclusion compounds, solid state deuterium NMR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics.