Analysis of powder spectra

An exception to this rule arises in the ESR spectra of radicals with small hyperfine parameters in solids. In that case the interplay between the Zeeman and anisotropic hyperfine interaction may give rise to satellite peaks for some radical orientations (S. M. Blinder, J. Chem. Phys., 1960, 33, 748 H. Sternlicht,./. Chem. Phys., 1960, 33, 1128). Such effects have been observed in organic free radicals (H. M. McConnell, C. Heller, T. Cole and R. W. Fessenden, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1959, 82, 766) but are assumed to be negligible for the analysis of powder spectra (see Chapter 4) where A is often large or the resolution is insufficient to reveal subtle spectral features. The nuclear Zeeman interaction does, however, play a central role in electron-nuclear double resonance experiments and related methods [Appendix 2 and Section 2.6 (Chapter 2)]. 

ENDOR and FT ESEEM spectra differ mainly in the intensities of the lines, which in ESEEM are given by a factor related to the ESR transition probabilities. A necessary prerequisite for modulations in the time domain spectrum is that the allowed Ami = 0 and forbidden Ami = 1 hyperfine lines have appreciable intensities in ESR. The zero ESEEM amplitude thus predicted with the field along the principal axes of the hyperfine coupling tensor is of relevance for the analysis of powder spectra. Analytical expressions describing the modulations have been obtained for nuclear spins I = V2 and / = 1 [54, 57] by quantum mechanical treatments that take into account the mixing of nuclear states under those conditions. Formulae are reproduced in Appendix A3.4. 

Single crystals are not, however, available for many compounds, and analysis of powder spectra is often difficult because of the need to deconvolute powder patterns from different resonances. More conveniently, MAS allows separation of resonances in spectra with overlapping powder patterns the overall shift anisotropy information is then contained in the sidebands. 

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