NMR and X-ray Study Revealing the Rigidity of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks

NMR relaxation studies and spectroscopic measurements of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) are reported. The dominant nuclear spin–lattice relaxation (T1) mechanism for ZIF-8 in air arises from atmospheric paramagnetic molecular oxygen. The 13C T1 measurements indicate that the oxygen interacts primarily with the imidazolate ring rather than the methyl substituent. Similar relaxation behavior was also observed in a ZIF with an unsubstituted ring, ZIF-4. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction was used to provide data for the study of the thermal ellipsoids of ZIF-8 at variable temperatures from 100 to 298 K, which further confirmed the rigid nature of this ZIF framework. These results highlight a rigid ZIF framework and are in contrast with dynamic metal–organic frameworks based on benzenedicarboxylate linking groups, for which the relaxation reflects the dynamics of the benzenedicarboxylate moiety.