Deuterium NMR Study of the Solid-Solid Phase Transition in Phenethylammonium Bromide

Abstract

Abstract Using 2H NMR, the dynamics of the cation in phenethylammonium bromide were studied in the two solid phases. Line shape and spin-lattice relaxation rate studies of the ammonium headgroups and the adajacent methylene groups indicate the onset of alkyl-chain motion prior to the first order phase transition. In the low-temperature phase the line shape and the spin-lattice relaxation rates of the -ND3 groups are consistent with C3 jumps and an activation energy of 54±4 kJ mol-1. However, in the high-temperature phase the spin-lattice relaxation studies indicate the presence of small-angle diffusion of the -ND3 groups around the C3 symmetry axis. In this phase the -CD2- groups show line shapes typical of large-amplitude two-site jumps occurring at a rate > 107 s-1 . In the low-temperature phase, at temperatures below 295 K, the -CD2 - 2H NMR line shapes indicate that the C - D bonds are essentially static