Solid-state NMR and X-ray diffraction structural investigations of the p-nitroaniline/ZSM-5 complex

The complex of zeolite ZSM-5 loaded with p-nitroaniline to four molecules per unit cell is of current interest as a potential non-linear optical material. A previous single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation has claimed that the p-nitroaniline molecules line up as oriented dipole chains inside the channels of ZSM-5, and it was concluded that this ordering explains how second harmonic generation arises. In another XRD study, it was not possible to distinguish between order and disorder of the p-nitroaniline molecules. The present results from solid-state NMR and single crystal XRD experiments indicate that the p-nitroaniline molecules are disordered in the ZSM-5 channels, i.e., they do not form ordered dipole chains throughout the entire crystal. The quantitative 29Si-MAS spectrum at room temperature shows 48 peaks of equal intensity indicating disorder of the guest molecules, and the 15N-MAS spectrum at 180 K of the 15N-labeled p-nitroaniline in ZSM-5 shows a splitting of the NO2 resonance, which also implies disorder. The single crystal XRD results show that the p-nitroaniline molecules are disordered over four-sites at the channel intersection even when refined in the less symmetric Pn21a space group. The final structure was refined in the orthorhombic Pnma space group to R=0.0465. The nature of this disorder is discussed. In particular, the possibilities of disorder arising from the average of polar domains or local disorder are examined in the light of the solid-state NMR results. That the p-nitroaniline molecules are disordered in ZSM-5 implies that the mechanism by which second harmonic generation arises may be more complex than is presently assumed.