Using Al-27 (I= 5/2) NMR of aluminium acetylacetonate, we show that it
is possible to cross-polarize from a spin I=1/2 nucleus (H-1) directl
y to the central triple-quantum transition of a half-integer quadrupol
ar nucleus (Al-27) in a powdered sample under MAS conditions. The opti
mum conditions for this multiple-quantum cross-polarization (MQCP) are
investigated experimentally and compared with existing theoretical re
sults. The new technique is applied to the recently introduced two-dim
ensional MQMAS experiment for recording high-resolution NMR spectra of
half-integer quadrupolar nuclei. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.