Supramolecular Synthon Identification in Azelaic Acid – Isonicotinamide

Abstract

Supramolecular synthons are the smallest structural units that contain the information inherent in building large molecular assemblies. Here, we apply solid-state NMR methods for the identification of the synthon in a cocrystal of Azelaic acid [(CH2)7(COOH)2]– Isonicotinamide [C6H6N2O]. It is observed that the spin-lattice relaxation time of protons in the cocrystal is long, implying that the choice of experiments, particularly those that involve low-sensitivity nuclei, could be time consuming. It is noticed that the two dimensional 1H double quantum (DQ) – 1H single quantum (SQ) correlation experiment at very fast MAS (60 kHz) is able to provide information on proton-proton proximities that leads to an understanding of the synthon structure. Experiments such as the CP-Reverse CP and 1H–13C HETCOR have been used to obtain spectral assignment which was additionally confirmed by first-principle GIPAW NMR chemical shift calculations. Present study indicates the basic unit to be a heterosynthon in Azelaic acid (AZA) – Isonicotinamide (INIC) cocrystal formed by two different modes of intermolecular connectivity, viz. acid–pyridine and acid–amide hydrogen bonding interactions. The presence of a CH…O type bond involving a hydrogen of INIC is also indicated from the observation of a larger chemical shift of the corresponding proton. The experimental protocol presented in this paper is expected to be a useful tool for the estimation of the basic structural arrangement of the synthons in a rapid fashion.

Keywords

• Solid State NMR
• Cocrystal
• Supramolecular Synthons
• Proton Double Quantum Experiment
• Hydrogen bonding
• GIPAW Calculations