Molecular Motions in Solid [Sb(CH3)4]PF6. A Combined 11H,9F Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Quasielastic Neutron Scattering Study

The molecular dynamics of tetramethylstibonium hexafluorophosphate, [Sb(CH ]PF , is investigated over a broad temperature range. NMR spin lattice relaxation times T and the NMR second moments of the H and F nuclei were determined in the range 8.6 ≦ T/K ≦ 332.3 for polycrystalline [Sb(CH ]PF . The complex cation undergoes isotropic tumbling for T > 260 K and thermally activated methyl group rotation in the temperature range T < 196 K. The activation energies for the transition from methyl group rotation to cation reorientation, as derived from NMR wideline (18.1 kJ/mol) and relaxation (22.7 kJ/mol) measurements, match. At very low temperatures pseudo classical line narrowing is observed, indicating tunneling motions of the methyl groups. The existence of two crystallographically inequivalent methyl groups is found by X-ray structure analysis at room temperature. The space group is P6 mc, Z = 2; a = 738.6 pm, c = 1089.3 pm. It is confirmed by two steps in the temperature dependence of the signal intensity of the quasielastic line in neutron fixed window measurements in the temperature range 2 < T/K