A solid-state NMR study of the formation of molecular sieve SAPO-34.

This work examined the formation of a catalytically important microporous material, SAPO-34, in the presence of HF under hydrothermal synthesis conditions. The local environments of P, Al, F and Si atoms in several solid phases obtained at different stages of crystallization were characterized by several solid-state NMR techniques including (31)P, (27)Al, (19)F and (29)Si MAS, (27)Al triple-quantum MAS, (31)P{(27)Al} transfer of populations in double-resonance, (27)Al{(31)P} rotational-echo double-resonance (REDOR), (27)Al-->(31)P heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy, (31)P{(19)F} and (27)Al{(19)F} REDOR as well as (1)H-->(31)P cross polarization. The NMR results provide the new insights into the formation of SAPO-34.