Two-dimensional MAS NMR correlation protocols involving double-quantum filtering of quadrupolar spin-pairs

Three two-dimensional (2D) NMR homonuclear correlation techniques invoking double-quantum (2Q) filtration of the central transitions of half-integer spins are evaluated numerically and experimentally. They correlate directly detected single-quantum (1Q) coherences in the t2 domain with either of 1Q, two-spin 2Q or single-spin multiple-quantum coherence-evolutions in the indirect (t1) dimension. We employ experimental 23Na and 27Al NMR on sodium sulfite and the natural mineral sillimanite (SiAl2O5), in conjunction with simulated 2D spectra from pairs of dipolar-recoupled spins-3/2 and 5/2 at different external magnetic fields, to compare the correlation strategies from the viewpoints of 2D spectral resolution, signal sensitivity, implementational aspects and their relative merits for establishing internuclear proximities and quadrupolar tensor orientations.