Trading sensitivity for information: Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill acquisition in solid-state NMR.

The Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) experiment has gained popularity in solid-state NMR as a method for enhancing sensitivity for anisotropically broadened spectra of both spin 1/2 and half integer quadrupolar nuclei. Most commonly, the train of CPMG echoes is Fourier transformed directly, which causes the NMR powder pattern to break up into a series of sidebands, sometimes called “spikelets.” Larger sensitivity enhancements are observed as the delay between the π pulses is shortened. As the duration between the π pulses is shortened, however, the echoes become truncated and information about the nuclear spin interactions is lost. We explored the relationship between enhanced sensitivity and loss of information as a function of the product Ω 2τ, where Ω is the span of the anisotropic lineshape and 2τ is the π pulse spacing. For a lineshape dominated by the nuclear shielding anisotropy, we found that the minimum uncertainty in the tensor values is obtained using Ω 2τ values in the range Ω 2τ≈12_-1⁺⁶ and Ω 2τ≈9_-3⁺³ for η_s=0 and η_s=1, respectively. For an anisotropic second-order quadrupolar central transition lineshape under magic-angle spinning (MAS), the optimum range of Ω 2τ≈9_-2⁺³ was found. Additionally, we show how the Two-dimensional One Pulse (TOP) like processing approach can be used to eliminate the cumbersome sideband pattern lineshape and recover a more familiar lineshape that is easily analyzed with conventional lineshape simulation algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]