Mechanism of Solid-State Thermolysis of Ammonia Borane: A 15N NMR Study Using Fast Magic-Angle Spinning and Dynamic Nuclear Polarization

Abstract

The solid-state thermolysis of ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) was explored using state-of-the-art 15N solid-state NMR spectroscopy, including 2D indirectly detected 1H{15N} heteronuclear correlation and dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)-enhanced 15N{1H} cross-polarization experiments as well as 11B NMR. The complementary use of 15N and 11B NMR experiments, supported by density functional theory calculations of the chemical shift tensors, provided insights into the dehydrogenation mechanism of AB—insights that have not been available by 11B NMR alone. Specifically, highly branched polyaminoborane derivatives were shown to form from AB via oligomerization in the “head-to-tail” manner, which then transform directly into hexagonal boron nitride analog through the dehydrocyclization reaction, bypassing the formation of polyiminoborane.