On the solvation of ions in small water droplets

The solvations of positively and negatively charged model ions in water droplets have been studied using Monte Carlo simulations performed with a polarizable intermolecular potential function model. Special focus has been placed on the position of the ion in the water droplet. It was found that the sign of the ionic charge is of minor importance but an increased ionic charge localizes the ion to the central regions of the droplet, whereas a large polarizability and a large ionic radius favor locations close to the surface of the water droplet.     

Protein retention in ion-exchange chromatography: effect of net charge and charge distribution

The charge regulated slab model is used to evaluate the salt dependence of the retention of Staphylococcal nuclease A and its mutants in cation-exchange chromatography. An important feature of this work is that the net charge of the proteins is varied in two different ways: (a) by changing the eluent pH so that the charges are created by protonation and (b) by point mutation at position 116. Since the structure of Staphylococcal nuclease and the mutants are known, the pH dependence of retention data of the different mutants gives detailed insights into the retention mechanism. Experimental results show that the salt dependence of retention is affected more strongly by changes of the eluent pH than by point mutations. This implies that the amino acid in position 116 has only a moderately strong interaction with the stationary phase surface and that a patch on one side of the protein surface is mainly responsible for the electrostatic interaction with the surface.     

Applications of charge stripping/charge exchange spectra of organic ions

The application of a new technique which involves the combination of charge stripping and charge exchange processes has been investigated. Ions are charge-stripped in the second field-free region of a triple-sector mass spectrometer (BEE geometry), and then subjected to a charge exchange reaction in the third field-free region. The resulting charge stripping/charge exchange (CS/CE) spectrum is free from interference, which is otherwise common in charge stripping spectra. Comparisons between charge stripping and CS/CE spectra are made in cases where both kinds of spectra are obtainable. In order to assess the applicability of this new technique to studies of isomeric ion structures, species for which charge stripping spectra have previously been unobtainable have been chosen. CS/CE spectra of [C₆H₆]⁺˙, [C₆H₅]⁺, [C₈H₁₀]⁺˙ and [C₇H₇O]⁺ ions from a variety of precursors are recorded: in most cases, sufficient differences are observed to permit distinction between isomeric structures (or mixtures of structures). Previous studies which have shown that stable doubly charged molecular ions of ethane cannot be formed by the charge stripping technique are confirmed from its CS/CE spectrum.     

Reorientation of ions in contact ion pairs as a factor increasing the intensity of outer-sphere charge transfer bands

1. Download : Download full-size image

     

Ligand-metal overlap as source of intensity for ligand field and charge transfer transitions

Experimental evidence for a strong decrease of intensities in both ligand field and charge transfer spectra with increased metal-ligand distance is presented. It suggests that overlap of charge clouds for metal ion and ligands is a major source of their intensities. The polarization ratios in noncubic crystals also appear to be largely determined by differences in bond lengths. Data from the literature are consistent with this interpretation. Potential applications of this still tentative principle for the gathering of structural information on pure and doped crystals as well as on amorphous systems are discussed.     

Absolute net charge and the biological activity of oligopeptides

Sequences of human proteins are frequently prepared as synthetic oligopeptides to assess their functional ability to act as compounds modulating pathways involving the parent protein. Our objective was to analyze a set of oligopeptides, to determine if their solubility or activity correlated with features of their primary sequence, or with features of properties inferred from three-dimensional structural models derived by conformational searches. We generated a conformational database for a set of 78 oligopeptides, derived from human proteins, and correlated their 3D structures with solubility and biological assay activity (as measured by platelet activation and inhibition). Parameters of these conformers (frequency of coil, frequency of turns, the degree of packing, and the energy) did not correlate with solubility, which was instead partly predicted by two measures obtained from primary sequence analysis, that is, the hydrophobic moment and the number of charges. The platelet activity of peptides was correlated with a parameter derived from the structural modeling; this was the second virial coefficient (a measure of the tendency for a structure to autoaggregate). This could be explained by an excess among the active peptides of those which had either a large number of positive charges or in some cases a large number of negative charges, with a corresponding deficit of peptides with a mixture of negative and positive charges. We subsequently determined that a panel of 523 commercially available (and biologically active) peptides shared this elevation of absolute net charge: there were significantly lower frequencies of peptides of mixed charges compared to expectations. We conclude that the design of biologically active peptides should consider favoring those with a higher absolute net charge.     

Unexpected high energy ions from a chemical ionization source

Doubly charged rare gas cations are produced in a chemical ionization source under conditions in which the energy of the primary ionizing electrons is more than 20 eV below the energetic threshold. The formation mechanism consists of creating secondary electrons outside the ion source followed by the acceleration of some of these electrons into the source where they initiate high energy ionization processes. Evidence suggesting that the secondary electrons arise from ionizing collisions between accelerated ions and background gas is presented. This process is expected to occur generally when positive ion chemical ionization is performed in magnetic deflection instruments.     

Determination of the net electric charge of a polyacrylamide molecule by Donnan potential measurements

The net electric chargez _pof a polyacrylamide molecule (Praestol, Mol. Wt. 3.4×10⁶) in aqueous solution was determined for two pH values (7.2 and 10.0) by measuring the Donnan e.m.f. as function of the solutions NaCl contentc (2.7 mM<c<74 mM). Taking into account a non-ideal behavior of the counterions (Na⁺) mobility, the numerical values ofz _pturned out to be 3100 and 5500 electric charge units for pH=7.2 and 10.0, respectively. A measurable contribution of the assumed non-ideal model for the Na⁺ ions is found forc<15 mM.     

Transport of ions and charged droplets from the atmospheric region into a gas dynamic interface

Transport of charged particles from the region of their generation to vacuum through a transport capillary with various length-to-diameter ratios L/D = 0.8, 32.5 and 420 is studied. It is shown the process is affected mostly by the geometrical features of the transport capillary and the structure of particles, ions, or droplets, due to the method of their generation (ESI and APCI). A method for distinguishing ions and droplets inside a gas dynamic interface is utilized and supported by computational simulation. The droplets are shown to dominate in the current by ESI for all the capillaries studied. It is shown experimentally that space charge effects predominated over diffusion ones for all practically important currents and capillaries. The estimations show that electrostatic repulsion and their attraction to capillary walls because of the mirror charge induced by all particles are close in effect.     

Formation and properties of metal clusters isolated in helium droplets

The unique conditions forming atomic and molecular complexes and clusters using superfluid helium nanodroplets have opened up an innovative route for studying the physical and chemical properties of matter on the nanoscale. This review summarizes the specific characteristics of the formation of atomic clusters partly generated far from equilibrium in the helium environment. Special emphasis is on the optical response, electronic properties as well as dynamical processes which are mostly affected by the surrounding quantum matrix. Experiments include the optical induced response of isolated cluster systems in helium under quite different excitation conditions ranging from the linear regime up to the violent interaction with a strong laser field leading to Coulomb explosion and the generation of highly charged atomic fragments. The variety of results on the outstanding properties in the quantum size regime highlights the peculiar capabilities of helium nanodroplet isolation spectroscopy.     

Single molecule charge transport: from a quantum mechanical to a classical description

This paper explores charge transport at the single molecule level. The conductive properties of both small organic molecules and conjugated polymers (molecular wires) are considered. In particular, the reasons for the transition from fully coherent to incoherent charge transport and the approaches that can be taken to describe this transition are addressed in some detail. The effects of molecular orbital symmetry, quantum interference, static disorder and molecular vibrations on charge transport are discussed. All of these effects must be taken into account (and may be used in a functional way) in the design of molecular electronic devices. An overview of the theoretical models employed when studying charge transport in small organic molecules and molecular wires is presented.     

Manipulation of charge states of biopolymer ions by atmospheric pressure ion/molecule reactions implemented in an extractive electrospray ionization source

A home-made extractive electrospray ionization source is coupled to an linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer to investigate ion/molecule reactions of biopolymers at ambient pressure. Multiply charged biopolymers such as peptides and proteins generated in an electrospray are easily reduced to a low charge state by the atmospheric pressure ion/molecule reactions occurring between the multiply charged ions and a strong basic reagent sprayed in neutral form into the electrospray plume. The charge state of the biopolymer ions can be manipulated by controlling the amount of the basic reagent. The production of biopolymer ions with low charge states results in a substantial improvement of sensitivity and reduced spectral congestion in ESI-MS. This is of importance for biopolymer mixture analysis and could have promising applications in proteomics.     

Fragmentation and charge transfer in gas-phase complexes of divalent metal ions with acetonitrile

The development of electrospray has enabled generation of gas-phase multiply charged metal ion complexes with various solvent molecules. These species exhibit rich fragmentation chemistry, involving competition among neutral ligand loss, ligand cleavage, and dissociative electron and proton transfer. Acetonitrile is a common aprotic solvent. Here we present a comprehensive MS/MS study on acetonitrile complexes of divalent metal cations. We measured the critical sizes below which dissociation channels other than the trivial neutral evaporation become operative and minimum sizes at which dications remain stable against charge reduction. For all sizes between the two, low-energy fragmentation patterns have been elucidated in detail.     

Approximate sizes of monoatomic negative ions with fractional nuclear charge using electrostatic potentials

Summary Using the criterion that for negative monoatomic ions withN electrons, the location of minimum in the electrostatic potentialV(r) gives an approximate estimate of ionic radii,r _m. Calculations of the latter are reported for quark atoms with fractional nuclear chargesZ=N– andN– , respectively. Quark atoms withN=1–10, 18 and 36 have also been considered.     

Salt effects in reactions between ions of opposite charge

Summary The kinetics of reactions between ions of opposite charge have been studied in concentrated salt solutions of supporting electrolytes. An increase in rate constant is observed at the higher concentrations of supporting electrolytes. The results are discussed in connection with kinetic salt effects on reactions between similary charged ions. It is concluded that the positive salt effects observed in all cases can be explained either as a consequence of nonequilibrium solvation in the transition state or as a result of solvent reorganisation in the activation process.     

Radial stratification of ions as a function of mass to charge ratio in collisional cooling radio frequency multipoles used as ion guides or ion traps

Collisional cooling in radio frequency (RF) ion guides has been used in mass spectrometry as an intermediate step during the transport of ions from high pressure regions of an ion source into high vacuum regions of a mass analyzer. Such collisional cooling devices are also increasingly used as 'linear', two-dimensional (2D) ion traps for ion storage and accumulation to achieve improved sensitivity and dynamic range. We have used the effective potential approach to study m/z dependent distribution of ions in the devices. Relationships obtained for the ideal 2D multipole demonstrate that after cooling the ion cloud forms concentric cylindrical layers, each of them composed of ions having the same m/z ratio; the higher the m/z, the larger is the radial position occupied by the ions. This behavior results from the fact that the effective RF focusing is stronger for ions of lower m/z, pushing these ions closer to the axis. Radial boundaries of the layers are more distinct for multiply charged ions, compared to singly charged ions having the same m/z and charge density. In the case of sufficiently high ion density and low ion kinetic energy, we show that each m/z layer is separated from its nearest neighbor by a radial gap of low ion density. The radial gaps of low ion population between the layers are formed due to the space charge repulsion. Conditions for establishing the m/z stratified structure include sufficiently high charge density and adequate collisional relaxation. These conditions are likely to occur in collisional RF multipoles operated as ion guides or 2D ion traps for external ion accumulation. When linear ion density increases, the maximum ion cloud radius also increases, and outer layers of high m/z ions approach the multipole rods and may be ejected. This 'overfilling' of the multipole capacity results in a strong discrimination against high m/z ions. A relationship is reported for the maximum linear ion density of a multipole that is not overfilled.     

利用离子型Cd源制备ZnSe/CdSe核-壳结构纳米晶

在有机相体系中利用ZnSe前驱体纳米晶制备过程中的富Se环境,以引入Cd2+的方式在相对温和的环境下通过控制Cd2+离子的加入量及调节反应时间,成功制备了ZnSe/CdSe核-壳复合结构纳米晶.利用X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电镜(TEM)、紫外-可见吸收光谱(UV-vis)和荧光光谱(FL)对其结构形貌以及光学性质进行表征和分析的结果表明,CdSe以外延生长的方式包覆在ZnSe纳米晶表面从而形成具有良好结晶性的核-壳复合结构,其荧光发射始终保持良好单色性,同时实现了在500～620nm可见光范围内的连续可调.