Although weak interactions, such as C−H•••O and πstacking, are generally considered to be insignificant, it is their reorganization that holds the key for many a solid-state phenomenon, such as phase transitions, plastic deformation, elastic flexibility, and mechanochromic luminescence in solid-state fluorophores. Despite this, the role of weak interactions in these dynamic phenomena is poorly understood. In this study, we investigate two co-crystal polymorphs of caffeine:4-chloro-3-nitrobenzoic acid, which have close structural similarity (2D layered structures), but surprisingly show distinct mechanical behavior. Form I is brittle, but shows shearinduced phase instability and, upon grinding, converts to Form II, which is soft and plastically shearable. This observation is in contrast to those reported in earlier studies on aspirin, wherein the metastable drug forms are softer and convert to stable and harder forms upon stressing. To establish a molecular-level understanding, we have investigated the two co-crystal polymorphs I and II by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, nanoindentation to quantify mechanical properties, and theoretical calculations. The lower hardness (from nanoindentation) and smooth potential surfaces (from theoretical studies) for shearing of layers in Form II allowed us to rationalize the role of stronger intralayer (sp 2 )C−H•••O and nonspecific interlayer π-stacking interactions in the structure of II. Although the Form I also possesses the same type of interactions, its strength is clearly opposite, that is, weaker intralayer (sp 3 )C−H•••O and specific interlayer π-stacking interactions. Hence, Form I is harder than Form II. Theoretical calculations and indentation on (111) of Form I suggested the low resistance of this face to mechanical stress; thus, Form I converts to II upon mechanical action. Hence, our approach demonstrates the usefulness of multiple techniques for establishing the role of weak noncovalent interactions in solid-state dynamic phenomena, such as stress-induced phase transformation, and hence is important in the context of solid-state pharmaceutical chemistry and crystal engineering.

Large-scale computations of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) shifts for extended paramagnetic solids (pNMR) are reported using the highly efficient Gaussian-augmented plane-wave implementation of the CP2K code. Combining hyperfine couplings obtained with hybrid functionals with g-tensors and orbital shieldings computed using gradient-corrected functionals, contact, pseudocontact, and orbital-shift contributions to pNMR shifts are accessible. Due to the efficient and highly parallel performance of CP2K, a wide variety of materials with large unit cells can be studied with extended Gaussian basis sets. Validation of various approaches for the different contributions to pNMR shifts is done first for molecules in a large supercell in comparison with typical quantum-chemical codes. This is then extended to a detailed study of g-tensors for extended solid transition-metal fluorides and for a series of complex lithium vanadium phosphates. Finally, lithium pNMR shifts are computed for LiV(PO), for which detailed experimental data are available. This has allowed an in-depth study of different approaches (e.g., full periodic versus incremental cluster computations of g-tensors and different functionals and basis sets for hyperfine computations) as well as a thorough analysis of the different contributions to the pNMR shifts. This study paves the way for a more-widespread computational treatment of NMR shifts for paramagnetic materials.

Surface phonons and surface temperature may have important effects on reactions of molecules at surfaces, and at present much remains unknown about these effects. A question addressed here, which has received little attention so far, is how reaction at elevated temperature is affected by thermal lattice expansion. To answer this question for the benchmark reaction of H2 and D2 with Cu(111), we have performed quantum and quasi-classical dynamics calculations. The specific reaction parameter (SRP) approach to density functional theory (DFT) has been used to compute the required six-dimensional potential energy surfaces (PES). Computed reaction probabilities and rotational quadrupole alignment parameters have been compared for surface temperatures Ts = 0 and 925 K. Surface thermal expansion of the lattice leads to a considerable decrease of reaction barrier heights and thereby to increased reaction probabilities as well as decreased rotational quadrupole alignment parameter values in associative desorption.

A novel protocol to compute and analyze NMR chemical shifts for extended paramagnetic solids, accounting comprehensively for Fermi-contact (FC), pseudocontact (PC), and orbital shifts, is reported and applied to the important lithium ion battery cathode materials LiFePO and LiCoPO. Using an EPR-parameter-based ansatz, the approach combines periodic (hybrid) DFT computation of hyperfine and orbital-shielding tensors with an incremental cluster model for g- and zero-field-splitting (ZFS) D-tensors. The cluster model allows the use of advanced multireference wave function methods (such as CASSCF or NEVPT2). Application of this protocol shows that the Li shifts in the high-voltage cathode material LiCoPO are dominated by spin-orbit-induced PC contributions, in contrast with previous assumptions, fundamentally changing interpretations of the shifts in terms of covalency. PC contributions are smaller for the Li shifts of the related LiFePO, where FC and orbital shifts dominate. The P shifts of both materials finally are almost pure FC shifts. Nevertheless, large ZFS contributions can give rise to non-Curie temperature dependences for bothLi and P shifts.

Understanding host-guest interactions is one of the key requirements for adjusting properties in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). In particular, systems with coordinatively unsaturated Lewis acidic metal sites feature highly selective adsorption processes. This is attributed to strong interactions with Lewis basic guest molecules. Here we show that a combination of C MAS NMR spectroscopy with state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) calculations allows one to unravel the interactions of water, 2-aminopyridine, 3-aminopyridine, and diethylamine with the open metal sites in Cr-MIL-101. TheC MAS NMR spectra, obtained with ultrafast magic-angle spinning, are well resolved, with resonances distributed over 1000 ppm. They present a clear signature for each guest at the open metal sites. Based on competition experiments this leads to the following binding preference: water < diethylamine ≈ 2-aminopyridine < 3-aminopyridine. Assignments were done by exploiting distance sum relations derived from spin-lattice relaxation data and C{H} REDOR spectral editing. The experimental data were used to validate NMR shifts computed for the Cr-MIL-101 derivatives, which contain CrO clusters with magnetically coupled metal centers. While both approaches provide an unequivocal assignment and the arrangement of the guests at the open metal sites, the NMR data offer additional information about the guest and framework dynamics. We expect that our strategy has the potential for probing the binding situation of adsorbate mixtures at the open metal sites of MOFs in general and thus accesses the microscopic interaction mechanisms for this important material class, which is essential for deriving structure-property relationships.