Pursuing structure in microcrystalline solids with independent molecules in the unit cell using 1H–13C correlation data

The 1H–13C solid-state NMR heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) experiment is demonstrated to provide shift assignments in certain powders that have two or more structurally independent molecules in the unit cell (i.e. multiple molecules per asymmetric unit). Although this class of solids is often difficult to characterize using other methods, HETCOR provides both the conventional assignment of shifts to molecular positions and associates many resonances with specific molecules in the asymmetric unit. Such assignments facilitate conformational characterization of the individual molecules of the asymmetric unit and the first such characterization solely from solid-state NMR data is described. HETCOR offers advantages in sensitivity over prior methods that assign resonances in the asymmetric unit by 13C–13C correlations and therefore allows shorter average analysis times in natural abundance materials. The 1H–13C analysis is demonstrated first on materials with known shift assignments from INADEQUATE data (santonin and Ca(OAc)2 phase I) to verify the technique and subsequently is extended to a pair of unknown solids: (+)-catechin and Ca(OAc)2 phase II. Sufficient sensitivity and resolution is achieved in the spectra to provide assignments to one of the specific molecules of the asymmetric unit at over 54% of the sites.