Pulse-assisted homonuclear dipolar recoupling of half-integer quadrupolar spins in magic-angle spinning NMR

We demonstrate numerically and experimentally that zero-quantum homonuclear dipolar recoupling techniques employing rotor-synchronized 180 degrees pulses, previously introduced for spin-1/2 applications, are useful also for magnetization transfers between half-integer quadrupolar nuclei in rotating solids. The recoupling sequences are incorporated as mixing periods in two-dimensional experimental protocols, that correlate either single-quantum coherences of coupled spins, or triple-quantum with single-quantum coherences for improving spectral resolution. We present Na-23 and Al-27 NMR experiments on powders of sodium sulphite [Na2SO3], YAG [Y3Al5O12] and a synthetic chlorite mineral [Mg4.5Al3Si2.5O10(OH)(8)]. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.