Recent Advances in Silicon-29 NMR Spectroscopy

This chapter deals with the recent advances made in silicon–29 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The tremendous growth of 29Si NMR has been due largely to the development and application of the pulsed Fourier transform (FT) method in commercial spectrometers. More recently, better sensitivity and the availability of high resolution solids capability on newer spectrometers have further increased the scope of 29Si NMR. The importance of silicon containing materials to electronics and chemical industries in the form of substrates, catalysts, adhesives, rubbers, fillers, additives, and consumer products has necessitated the development of better characterization methods. For theoretical chemists and physicists, 29Si chemical shifts, couplings, and relaxation data provide information about bonding, molecular interactions, and motions. Silicon lies immediately below the well-understood carbon and at the beginning of the heavier elements in the periodic table, therefore, understanding the factors involved in determining its chemical shifts and couplings plays a significant role in the development of a unified theory. The chapter presents the more recently obtained results in 29Si NMR spectroscopy.