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It has been recently demonstrated that nuclear quadrupolar relaxation time (Tlq) measurements provide a powerful tool for determination of quadrupole coupling constants (QCC) in liquids. This technique, however, requires an accurate value of the correlation time , τc, of the electric field gradient vector. In the research, we investigate the migration of π-electron between benzonitrile and its various substitution from the measured values of QCC(14N). Substitution and solvent effects have also been examined. Measurements of the relaxation time and the nuclear Overhauser effect were first performed on the paracarbon in benzonitrile to extract the dipolar relaxation rate. This permits the determination of the correlation time, τc, of the two-fold molecular symmetry axis. Combining the calculated value of τc, 7.78ps, with the measured nitrogen-14 quadrupolar relaxation time, 0.482ms, the experimental values of QCC(14N), 4.25 MHz was obtained. In order to confirm the validity of extracting □c from TICSA, relaxation times of the cyano carbon were measured at two field strengths. Using the magnitude of τc (8.86 ps) derived from TICSA(21.1 sec), calculated values of QCC, 3.98 MHz, is in good agreement with that obtained from T1DD. The lover QCC, compared to that in HCN, manifests that pi-electron density migrates from benzene ring to the cyano pi-system. This conclusion may be applied to account for the downfield shift of the para-carbon in benzonitrile. In studies of substitution effects on magnitudes of QCC, values of τc determined by both T1DD and T1CSA were in use .Experimental results from both methods reveal that substitution with halogens or methoxyl groups yields increased magnitudes of QCC's These can be rationalized by the electron withdrawing nature of substituents which results in a reversed migration of pi-electron density between the two pi-system. More importantly, the capability for calculating reliable values of correlation times from T1CSA is verified. The research performed here, therefore, has laid the foundation for future studies of pi-bonding variations in organic nitriles, cyano halogens, and cyano metal complexes.
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