Microporous framework solids

A very wide range of solid state NMR experiments is therefore available for the study of the structural chemistry of microporous framework solids. Some of these are listed in Table 3.2, together with a summary of the information they give. In this chapter I will discuss the application of solid state NMR spectroscopy to the elucidation of the structural chemistry of zeolites, other inorganic molecular sieves and organic-inorganic hybrids. 

Microporous framework solids are synthesised via solvent-mediated crystallisations from mixtures of reactive precursors. The reaction pathway is controlled by kinetic as well as thermodynamic considerations so that equilibrium phase diagrams, so relevant in the high-temperature preparation of ceramics, are not useful here. Rather, synthetic routes have been developed empirically via a major synthetic effort that continues today. The continuing industrial and academic interest in these materials provides a powerful incentive to understand the principles underlying their formation through the processes of gel formation and evolution, nucleation and crystal growth. 

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