Precessional Motion in Crystalline Solid Solutions of Ionic Rotors

The order-disorder phase transition associated with the uprise of reorientational motion in (DABCOH2)(2+), in the supramolecular salts of general formula [1(DABCOH(2))]X-2 (where 1 = 12-crown-4, DABCO = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, and X = Cl- or Br-), has been investigated by variable temperature X-ray diffraction on single crystals and powder samples, as well as by DSC and solid-state NMR spectroscopy (SSNMR). The two compounds undergo a reversible phase change at 292 and 290 K, respectively. The two crystalline materials form solid solutions [1(DABCOH(2))]Cl2xBr2(1-x) in the whole composition range (0 < x < 1), with a decrease in the temperature of transition to a minimum of ca 280 K, corresponding to x = 0.5. Activation energy values for the dynamic processes, evaluated by variable-temperature C-13 magic-angle spinning (MAS) SSNMR and line-shape analysis are ca. 50 kJmol(-1) in all cases. Combined diffraction and spectroscopic evidence has allowed the detection of a novel dynamic process for the (DABCOH(2))(2+) dications, based on a room temperature precessional motion that is frozen out below the disorder-order transition; to the best of the authors' knowledge this phenomenon has never been observed before.