Small Molecules, Non-Covalent Interactions, and Confinement

• Main Authors: Gerd Buntkowsky, Michael Vogel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: confinement; solid-state NMR; molecular dynamics; interfaces and surfaces
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/14/3311

This review gives an overview of current trends in the investigation of small guest molecules, confined in neat and functionalized mesoporous silica materials by a combination of solid-state NMR and relaxometry with other physico-chemical techniques. The reported guest molecules are water, small alcohols, and carbonic acids, small aromatic and heteroaromatic molecules, ionic liquids, and surfactants. They are taken as characteristic role-models, which are representatives for the typical classes of organic molecules. It is shown that this combination delivers unique insights into the structure, arrangement, dynamics, guest-host interactions, and the binding sites in these confined systems, and is probably the most powerful analytical technique to probe these systems.