Solid-state
67Zn NMR spectra o
f model compounds
for metalloproteins, such as [H
2B(3,5-Me
2pz)
2]
2Zn (pz denotes pyrazolyl ring), have been obtained using low temperatures (10 K) to enhance theBoltzmann
factor in combination with cross polarization (CP)
from
1H to
67Zn. Attempts to observe spectrao
f other model compounds, such as [H
2B(pz)
2]
2Zn, were hindered by long relaxation times o
f the protons.To decrease the proton relaxation times, the high-spin six-coordinate complex [HB(3,4,5-Me
3pz)
3]
2Fe hasbeen investigated as a dopant. NMR and EPR measurements have shown that this Fe(II) dopant e
ffectivelyreduces the
1H spin lattice relaxation time,
T1, o
f the zinc samples in the temperature range 5-10 K withminimal perturbations o
f the
1H spin lattice relaxation time in the rotating
frame,
T1fchars/rho.gif" BORDER=0 >. Using this methodology,we have determined the
67Zn NMR parameters o
f four- and six-coordinate zinc(II) poly(pyrazolyl)boratecomplexes that are use
ful models
for systems o
f biological importance. The
67Zn NMR parameters arecontrasted to the corresponding changes in the
113Cd NMR parameters
for the analogous compounds.Further, these investigations have demonstrated that a temperature-dependent phase transition occurs inthe neighborhood o
f 185 K
for [HB(3,5-Me
2pz)
3]
2Zn; the other poly(pyrazolyl)borate complexes weinvestigated did not show this temperature-dependent behavior. This conclusion is con
firmed by acombination o
f room-temperature high-
field (18.8 T) solid-state
67Zn NMR spectroscopy and low-temperatureX-ray methods. The utilization o
f paramagnetic dopants should enable low-temperature cross polarizationexperiments to be per
formed on a wide variety o
f nuclides that are important in bioinorganic chemistry,
forexample,
25Mg,
43Ca, and
67Zn.