Slow-down of 13C spin diffusion in organic solids by fast MAS: a CODEX NMR Study

One- and two-dimensional 13C exchange nuclear magnetic resonance experiments under magic-angle spinning (MAS) can provide detailed information on slow segmental reorientations and chemical exchange in organic solids, including polymers and proteins. However, observations of dynamics on the time scale of seconds or longer are hampered by the competing process of dipolar 13C spin exchange (spin diffusion). In this Communication, we show that fast MAS can significantly slow down the dipolar spin exchange effect for unprotonated carbon sites. The exchange is measured quantitatively using the centerband-only detection of exchange technique, which enables the detection of exchange at any spinning speed, even in the absence of changes of isotropic chemical shifts. For chemically equivalent unprotonated 13C sites, the dipolar spin exchange rate is found to decrease slightly less than proportionally with the sample-rotation frequency, between 8 and 28 kHz. In the same range, the dipolar spin exchange rate for a glassy polymer with an inhomogeneously broadened MAS line decreases by a factor of 10. For methylene groups, no or only a minor slow-down of the exchange rate is found.