Flexible metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are capable of changing their crystal structure as a function of external stimuli such as pressure, temperature, and type of adsorbed guest species. DUT-49 is the first MOF exhibiting structural transitions accompanied by the counterintuitive phenomenon of negative gas adsorption (NGA). Here, we present high pressure in situ ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopic studies of a novel isoreticular MOF family based on DUT-49. These po-rous materials differ only in the length of their organic linkers causing changes in pore size and elasticity. The series encompasses both, purely microporous materials as well as materials with both, micropores and small mesopores. The chemical shift of adsorbed xenon depends on xenon-wall interactions and thus, on the pore size of the material. The xenon adsorption behavior of the different MOFs can be observed over the whole range of relative pressure. Chemical shift adsorption/desorption isotherms closely resembling the conventional, uptake-measurement based isotherms were obtained at 237 K where all materials are rigid. The comparable chemical environment for adsorbed xenon in these isoreticular MOFs allows establishing a correlation between the chemical shift at a relative pressure of p/p₀ = 1.0 and the mean pore diameter. Furthermore, the xenon adsorption behavior of the MOFs is studied also at 200 K. Here, struc-tural flexibility is found for DUT 50, a material with an even longer linker than the previously known DUT-49. Its structural transitions are monitored by ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopy. This compound is the second known MOF showing the phenomenon of negative gas adsorption. Further increase in the linker length results in DUT-151, a material with interpenetrated network topology. In situ ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopy proves that this material exhibits another type of flexibility compared to DUT-49 and DUT-50. Further surprising observations are made for DUT-46. Volumetric xenon adsorption measurements show that this non-flexible microporous material does not exhibit any hysteresis. In contrast, in situ ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopically detected xenon chemical shift isotherms exhibit a hysteresis even after longer equilibration times than in the volumetric experiments. This indicates kinetically hindered re-distribution processes and long-lived metastable states of adsorbed xenon within the MOF persisting at the time scale of hours or longer.

Es wurden verschiedene NMR-spektrokopische Messungen an flexiblen und chiralen MOFs durchgeführt. Zur Untersuchung der Porensysteme kamen 129Xe-NMR und 13C-NMR an adsorbiertem CO2 zum Einsatz, während die MOF-Gitter und ihre Wechselwirkungen mit adsorbierten Gastmolekülen mittels 13C- und 1H-MAS-NMR-Spektroskopie studiert wurden. Während DUT-8(Ni) Flexibilität zeigt, weist DUT-8(Cu) ein starres Gitter auf. Die Flexibilität der sogenannten Solid-Solutions hängt in ausgeprägter Weise vom Verhältnis der funktionalisierten bdc-Linker 2,5-bme-bdc und db-bdc ab. Dieses Verhältnis hat zudem einen großen Einfluss auf die Orientierung der adsorbierten CO2-Moleküle. Es wurde erstmals eine Methode vorgestellt, die den Festkörper-NMR-spektroskopischen Nachweis chiraler Seitengruppen in chiralen MOFs erlaubt, wie anhand des chiral modifizierten UMCM-1 (ChirUMCM-1) demonstriert wurde. Die Chiralität kann einen NMR-spektroskopisch messbaren Einfluss auf die intrinsische Dynamik des MOF-Gitters ausüben, wie am chiral modifizierten DUT-32 deutlich wurde, dessen chirale Seitengruppe selektiv 15N- und 13C-isotopenmarkiert wurde.

Es wurden verschiedene NMR-spektrokopische Messungen an flexiblen und chiralen MOFs durchgeführt. Zur Untersuchung der Porensysteme kamen 129Xe-NMR und 13C-NMR an adsorbiertem CO2 zum Einsatz, während die MOF-Gitter und ihre Wechselwirkungen mit adsorbierten Gastmolekülen mittels 13C- und 1H-MAS-NMR-Spektroskopie studiert wurden. Während DUT-8(Ni) Flexibilität zeigt, weist DUT-8(Cu) ein starres Gitter auf. Die Flexibilität der sogenannten Solid-Solutions hängt in ausgeprägter Weise vom Verhältnis der funktionalisierten bdc-Linker 2,5-bme-bdc und db-bdc ab. Dieses Verhältnis hat zudem einen großen Einfluss auf die Orientierung der adsorbierten CO2-Moleküle. Es wurde erstmals eine Methode vorgestellt, die den Festkörper-NMR-spektroskopischen Nachweis chiraler Seitengruppen in chiralen MOFs erlaubt, wie anhand des chiral modifizierten UMCM-1 (ChirUMCM-1) demonstriert wurde. Die Chiralität kann einen NMR-spektroskopisch messbaren Einfluss auf die intrinsische Dynamik des MOF-Gitters ausüben, wie am chiral modifizierten DUT-32 deutlich wurde, dessen chirale Seitengruppe selektiv 15N- und 13C-isotopenmarkiert wurde.

Abstract The present thesis exploits advanced liquid and gas NMR methods for the characterization of various interesting materials. The methods used to study the structural properties of thermally modified wood, ionic liquids, cements, shales, and porous organic cages include MRI, NMR cryoporometry, Laplace NMR, multidimensional Laplace NMR, as well as ¹²⁹Xe and ¹⁹F NMR. The commonality factor in all the studies is the usage of either inherent or introduced liquid or gas molecules to probe the topical materials. The MRI method was utilized to visualize the water absorption phenomena in the thermally modified pine wood. High-resolution images made it possible to observe the spatial distribution of free water and the changes in the rate of absorption of water in wood samples modified at different temperatures. The images also helped to resolve the individual resin channels. T₂ maps enabled us to observe the changes in the relaxation values of free water in thermally modified wood as compared to their unmodified reference wood samples. The multidimensional Laplace NMR methods were exploited to study the structural and dynamical properties of a novel halogen-free, boron-based ionic liquid (hf-BIL). NMR self-diffusion (D) experiments showed the presence of two coexisting dynamic phases in hf-BIL. Multidimensional D − T₂ correlation experiments made it possible to determine the T₂ relaxation times of the slow and fast diffusing phases. T₂ − T₂ relaxation exchange measurements allowed quantifying the exchange rates of anions and cations between the phases. Moreover, the theoretical modeling of the experimental data revealed that the slow diffusing phase was composed of anion-cation aggregates, while the fast diffusing phase was comprised of free anions and cations. ¹²⁹Xe NMR analysis of the xenon adsorbed in the cements and shales helped us to determine their porous structures. The method exploits the high sensitivity of the chemical shift of ¹²⁹Xe to its local environment. The chemical shift value of ¹²⁹Xe enabled us to estimate the size of the mesopores in the cement samples. The exchange spectroscopy (EXSY) measurements were used to determine the exchange rates between the free gas and mesopores of the cement samples. ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectra of the shale samples provided information about pore sizes and paramagnetic compounds. ¹H NMR cryoporometry measurements of the shale samples immersed in acetonitrile made it possible to analyze the pore size distribution ranging from 10 to over 100 nm. Moreover, T₂ − T₂ exchange measurements helped us to quantify the exchange rates of acetonitrile in the shale samples. Xenon and SF₆ were used as internal reporters to gain versatile information on adsorption phenomena in the cage and window cavities of the crystalline porous organic cages. ¹²⁹Xe NMR analysis of the adsorbed xenon helped us to determine the diffusion coefficients and activation energy of diffusion as well as thermodynamic parameters. With the help of T₂ relaxation time values, it was possible to estimate the exchange rates between cage and window cavities. Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) experiments resolved a window cavity site, which arises from crystal defects in porous organic cages. In addition, ¹⁹F NMR analysis made it possible to estimate the relaxation rates and diffusion coefficients of SF₆ gas in porous organic cages. Modelling of the T₁, T₂ and diffusion data confirmed that the cage to window exchange is the completely dominating mechanism for ¹²⁹Xe T₂ relaxation. T₁ relaxation is dominated by diffusion modulated dipole-dipole relaxation (DDinter) and chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) relaxation due to local cavity mobility. Whereas, in case of SF₆ T₂ data, the dominating mechanism is diffusion modulated dipole-dipole relaxation and for T₁ the local tumbling of SF₆ in cage cavity is the key dynamics behind the dipole-dipole and CSA mechanisms. / Original papers The original publications are not included in the electronic version of the dissertation. Javed, M. A., Kekkonen, P. M., Ahola, S., & Telkki, V.-V. (2015). Magnetic resonance imaging study of water absorption in thermally modified pine wood. Holzforschung, 69(7), 899–907. https://doi.org/10.1515/hf-2014-0183 Javed, M. A., Ahola, S., Håkansson, P., Mankinen, O., Aslam, M. K., Filippov, A., … Telkki, V.-V. (2017). Structure and dynamics elucidation of ionic liquids using multidimensional Laplace NMR. Chem. Commun., 53(80), 11056–11059. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cc05493a http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2017102750335 Javed, M. A., Komulainen, S., Daigle, H., Zhang, B., Vaara, J., Zhou, B., & Telkki, V.-V. (2019). Determination of pore structures and dynamics of fluids in hydrated cements and natural shales by various ¹H and ¹²⁹Xe NMR methods. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 281, 66–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2019.02.034 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2019041712678 Komulainen, S., Roukala, J., Zhivonitko, V. V., Javed, M. A., Chen, L., Holden, D., … Telkki, V.-V. (2017). Inside information on xenon adsorption in porous organic cages by NMR. Chemical Science, 8(8), 5721–5727. https://doi.org/10.1039/C7SC01990D http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe201709288804 Håkansson, P., Javed, M. A., Komulainen, S., Chen, L., Holden, D., Hasell, T., … Telkki, V.-V. (2019). NMR relaxation and modelling study of the dynamics of SF₆ and Xe in porous organic cages. Manuscript.