2-D homonuclear correlation and separated local field experiments for solids with strong homonuclear dipolar couplings

An experiment for acquiring two-dimensional homonuclear correlation spectra of nuclei in solids in the presence of strong homonuclear dipolar couplings is described. The experiment utilizes a multiple-pulse homonuclear decoupling sequence with an effective precession axis parallel to the rotating frame z-axis during the evolution and detection periods. A multiple-pulse sequence that suppresses chemical shift and heteronuclear dipolar coupling evolution and scales the static homonuclear dipolar coupling is proposed for the mixing period. The evolution during the mixing period is analogous to the dynamics of the mixing period in solution-state TOCSY experiments, and can be interpreted as the oscillatory exchange of longitudinal magnetization between coupled spins. For nuclides with large gyromagnetic ratios, the static homonuclear dipolar interaction will be substantially larger than the mechanisms used to develop internuclear correlations in solution state 2-D experiments, which should make it possible to establish correlations over much longer distances and with significantly shorter mixing times. Extensions to separated local field experiments are discussed.