Unusual long-range spin-spin coupling in fluorinated polyenes: A mechanistic analysis

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a prospective means to realize quantum computers. The performance of a NMR quantum computer depends sensitively on the properties of the NMR-active molecule used, where one requirement is a large indirect spin-spin coupling over large distances. F-F spin-spin coupling constants (SSCCs) for fluorinated polyenes F-(CH = CH)(n)-F (n=1 center dot 5) are > 9 Hz across distances of more than 10 angstrom. Analysis of the F,F spin-spin coupling mechanism with our recently developed decomposition of J into Orbital Contributions with the help of Orbital Currents and Partial Spin Polarization (J-OCOC-PSP=J-OC-PSP) method reveals that coupling is dominated by the spin-dipole (SD) term due to an interplay between the pi lone-pair orbitals at the F atoms and the pi(C-2n) electron system. From our investigations we conclude that SD-dominated SSCCs should occur commonly in molecules with a contiguous pi-electron system between the two coupling nuclei and that a large SD coupling generally is the most prospective way to provide large long-range spin-spin coupling. Our results give guidelines for the design of suitable active molecules for NMR quantum computers. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.