A 2H and 14N NMR study of molecular motion in polycrystalline choline salts

Abstract

2H and 14N solid-state NMR spectra of polycrystalline choline chloride, bromide, and iodide indicate that 180° cation flipping motion occurs in all three salts. From the temperature dependence of these spectra, the activation energy for this motion is determined to be 5.8 ± I kcal/mol in the iodide salt and 11 ± 1.5 kcal/mol in the chloride salt. In the bromide salt the reorientation rate is too rapid to be determined from the NMR lineshape, but the temperature dependence of the 2H quadrupole coupling parameters is indicative of a second-order phase transition at approximately 273 K. The spectral distortions in the 14N NMR spectra of the chloride and iodide salts are adequately explained using the motional model derived from the 2H NMR results, while the 14N spectra of the bromide salt show no motional effects. The axis of reorientation which is inferred from these data appears to be consistent with that indicated in a previous X-ray crystallographic study.