Abstract. Half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei are the only
magnetic isotopes for the majority of the chemical elements. Therefore, the
transfer of polarization from protons to these isotopes under magic-angle
spinning (MAS) can provide precious insights into the interatomic
proximities in hydrogen-containing solids, including organic, hybrid,
nanostructured and biological solids. This transfer has recently been
combined with dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) in order to enhance the NMR
signal of half-integer quadrupolar isotopes. However, the cross-polarization
transfer lacks robustness in the case of quadrupolar nuclei, and we have
recently introduced as an alternative technique a D-RINEPT (through-space
refocused insensitive nuclei enhancement by polarization transfer) scheme
combining a heteronuclear dipolar recoupling built from adiabatic pulses
and a continuous-wave decoupling. This technique has been demonstrated at
9.4 T with moderate MAS frequencies, νR≈10–15 kHz, in
order to transfer the DNP-enhanced 1H polarization to quadrupolar
nuclei. Nevertheless, polarization transfers from protons to quadrupolar
nuclei are also required at higher MAS frequencies in order to improve the
1H resolution. We investigate here how this transfer can be achieved at
νR≈20 and 60 kHz. We demonstrate that the D-RINEPT
sequence using adiabatic pulses still produces efficient and robust
transfers but requires large radio-frequency (rf) fields, which may not be compatible with
the specifications of most MAS probes. As an alternative, we introduce
robust and efficient variants of the D-RINEPT and PRESTO (phase-shifted
recoupling effects a smooth transfer of order) sequences using
symmetry-based recoupling schemes built from single and composite π pulses. Their performances are compared using the average Hamiltonian
theory and experiments at B0=18.8 T on γ-alumina and
isopropylamine-templated microporous aluminophosphate (AlPO4-14),
featuring low and significant 1H–1H dipolar interactions,
respectively. These experiments demonstrate that the 1H magnetization
can be efficiently transferred to 27Al nuclei using D-RINEPT with
SR412(270090180) recoupling and using PRESTO with R2227(1800) or R1676(270090180) schemes at
νR=20 or 62.5 kHz, respectively. The D-RINEPT and PRESTO
recoupling schemes complement each other since the latter is affected by
dipolar truncation, whereas the former is not. We also analyze the losses during these recoupling schemes, and we show how
these magnetization transfers can be used at νR=62.5 kHz to
acquire in 72 min 2D HETCOR (heteronuclear correlation) spectra between 1H and quadrupolar nuclei,
with a non-uniform sampling (NUS).