Investigations on field desorption products from silver surfaces by mass spectrometry

Field evaporation of silver and field desorption of silver surface compounds were investigated by analysing positive ions with a mass spectrometer. In particular, the well known adsorption states of oxygen, and further the interactions of H₂O, NH₃, H₂, CO and CH₄ were measured in the field ion mass spectrometer under steady state fields of > 0.1 V/Å with a sensitivity of < 0.1 ions s^?1 and at temperatures between 80 °K and 425 °K. Although oxygen is usually chemisorbed at Ag surfaces, no AgO⁺, AgO⁺₂ or other Ag-O compounds could be detected as positive ions, Ag⁺ and O₂⁺ are the only observed ions at best image fields in oxygen up to fields of field evaporation of Ag⁺(≈ 2.2 V/Å). Even after the actual adsorption of oxygen with zero-field (6 × 10⁵ Langmuir at 10^?3 Torr) at 323 °K and 473 °K and subsequent application of the desorption field at 210°K no silver-oxygen compounds were found in positive ionic form. Small quantities of AgO⁺ and AgO⁺₂ were only formed — besides Ag(H₂O)_x⁺ complexes — if atomic oxygen was supplied by the field induced dissociation of water.Gases which do not adsorb on silver under zero-field conditions (H₂, CO, CH₄, N₂) yield the ions Ag(H₂)_n, Ag(CO)_n⁺, n=1, 2; AgCH₄⁺, AgN₂⁺. The situation with H₂O and NH₃ is more complicated: Molecular ions [Ag(H₂O)_n]⁺·mH₂O, n=1,…, 4, m=1,…, 8 and [Ag(NH₃)_n]⁺·mNH₃, n=1, 2, m=1,…, 6 are found besides Ag⁺.From the temperature and field dependence conclusions are drawn about the mechanisms of evaporation and formation of ionic surface complexes. The activation energies of evaporation of Ag⁺ are found to depend on the square root of the field strength. In general, the generation of surface compounds can be described by field induced reactions rather than usual gas adsorption.     

CH3OH在ZnO(0001)表面的光催化解离

本文利用266 nm波长的激光及程序升温脱附的方法研究了甲醇在ZnO(0001)表面的光催化反应. TPD结果显示部分的CH₃OH以分子的形式吸附在ZnO(0001)表面,而另外一部分在表面发生了解离. 实验过程中探测到H₂,CH₃^·,H₂O,CO,CH₂O,CO₂和CH₃OH这些热反应产物. 紫外激光照射实验结果表明光照可以促进CH₃OH/CH₃O^·解离形成CH₂O,在程序升温或光照的过程中它又可以转变为HCOO^-. CH₂OH_Zn与OH_ad反应在Zn位点上形成H₂O分子. 升温或光照都能促进CH₃O^·转变为CH₃^·. 该研究对CH₃OH在ZnO(0001)表面的光催化反应机理提供了一个新的见解.     

Kinetic study on effect of novel cationic dimeric surfactants for the cleavage of carboxylate ester

Kinetic study has been performed to understand the reactivity of novel cationic gemini surfactants viz. alkanediyl‐α,ω‐bis(hydroxyethylmethylhexadecylammonium bromide) C₁₆‐s‐C₁₆ MEA, 2Br^? (where s = 4, 6) in the cleavage of p‐nitrophenyl benzoate (PNPB). Novel cationic gemini C₁₆‐s‐C₁₆ MEA, 2Br^? surfactants are efficient in promoting PNPB cleavage in presence of butane 2,3‐dione monoximate and N‐phenylbenzohydroxamate ions. Model calculation revealed that the higher catalytic effect of ethanol moiety of gemini surfactants (C₁₆H₃₃N⁺ C₂H₄OH CH₃ (CH₂)_S N⁺ C₂H₄OH CH₃C₁₆H₃₃, 2Br^?, s = 4, 6) is due to their higher binding capacity toward substrate. This is in line with finding that binding constants for novel series of cationic gemini surfactants are higher than conventional cationic gemini (C₁₆H₃₃N⁺(CH₃)₂(CH₂)_SN⁺(CH₃)₂C₁₆H₃₃, 2Br^?, s = 10, 12), cetyldimethylethanolammonium bromide and zwitterionic surfactants, i.e. C_nH_2n+1N⁺Me₂ (CH₂)₃ SO₃^? (n = 10; SB3‐10). The fitting of kinetic data was analyzed by the pseudophase model. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reactions and anion desorption induced by low-energy electron exposure of condensed acetonitrile

Thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS) and electron stimulated desorption (ESD) are employed to investigate mechanisms responsible for the formation of C₂H₆ in electron irradiated multilayer films of acetonitrile (CH₃CN) at 30 K. Using a high sensitivity time-of-flight mass spectrometer, we observe the ESD of anionic fragments H⁻, CH₂ ⁻, CH₃ ⁻ and CN⁻. Desorption occurs following dissociative electron attachment (DEA) via several negative ion resonances in the 6 to 14 eV energy range and correlates well with a “resonant” structure seen in the TDS yield of C₂H₆ (i.e., at mass 30 amu). It is proposed that C₂H₆ is formed by the reactions of CH₃ radicals generated following DEA to CH₃CN which also yields CN⁻. Between 2 and 5 eV, a second resonant feature is seen in the C₂H₆ signal. While DEA is observed in the gas phase at these energies, no anion desorption occurs since anionic fragments likely have insufficient kinetic energy to desorb. Since the CH₂ ⁻ ion has not been observed in gas-phase measurements, we propose that it is formed, along with HCN (that is detected in TDS) when dissociation into CH₃ ⁻ and CN is hindered by adjacent molecules.     

Electron stimulated desorption of H3O from 316L stainless steel

Surface ions generated by electron stimulated desorption from mass spectrometer ion source grids are frequently observed, but often misidentified. For example, in the case of mass 19, the source is often assumed to be surface fluorine, but since the metal oxide on grid surfaces has been shown to form water and hydroxides, a more compelling case can be made for the formation of hydronium. Further, fluorine is strongly electronegative, so it is rarely generated as a positive ion. A commonly used metal for ion source grids is 316L stainless steel. Thermal vacuum processing by bakeout or radiation heating from the filament typically alters the surface composition to predominantly Cr₂O₃. X-ray photoelectron spectral shoulders on the O 1s and Cr 2p_3/2 peaks can be attributed to adsorbed water and hydroxides, the intensity of which can be substantially increased by hydrogen dosing. On the other hand, the sub-peak intensities are substantially reduced by heating and/or by electron bombardment. Electron bombardment diode measurements show an initial work function increase corresponding to predominant hydrogen desorption (H₂) and a subsequent work function decrease corresponding to predominant oxygen desorption (CO). The fraction of hydroxide concentration on the surface was determined from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and from the deconvolution of temperature desorption spectra. Electron stimulated desorption yields from the surface show unambiguous H₃O⁺ peaks that can be significantly increased by hydrogen dosing. Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry sputter yields show small signals of H₃O⁺, as well as its constituents (H⁺, O⁺ and OH⁺) and a small amount of fluorine as F⁻, but no F⁺ or F⁺ complexes (HF⁺, etc.). An electron stimulated desorption cross-section of σ⁺ ∼ 1.4 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² was determined for H₃O⁺ from 316L stainless steel for hydrogen residing in surface chromium hydroxide.     

1,4-二氧六环的真空紫外同步辐射光解离电离研究

The photoionization and photodissociation of 1,4-dioxane have been investigated with a reflectron time-of-flight photoionization mass spectrometry and a tunable vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation in the energy region of 8.0-15.5 eV. Parent ion and fragment ions at m/z 88, 87, 58, 57, 45, 44, 43, 41, 31, 30, 29, 28 and 15 are detected under supersonic conditions. The ionization energy of DX as well as the appearance energies of its fragment ions C₄H₇O₂⁺, C₃H₆O⁺, C₃H₅O⁺, C₂H₅O⁺, C₂H₄O⁺, C₂H₃O⁺, C₃H₅⁺, CH₃O⁺, C₂H₆⁺, C₂H₅⁺/CHO⁺, C₂H₄⁺ and CH₃⁺ was determined from their photoionization efficiency curves. The optimized structures for the neutrals, cations, transition states and intermediates related to photodissociation of DX are characterized at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level and their energies are obtained by G3B3 method. Possible dissociative channels of the DX are proposed based on comparison of experimental AE values and theoretical predicted ones. Intramolecular hydrogen migrations are found to be the dominant processes in most of the fragmentation pathways of 1,4-dioxane.     

甲胺水合离子团簇的结构模型及红外光谱研究

本文利用量子化学计算方法,研究了甲胺和水复合离子团簇[(CH₃NH₂)(H₂O)_n]⁺的几何结构、能量和红外光谱,揭示了结构生长模型、氢键作用机制和质子转移机理. 研究结果表明,在[(CH₃NH₂)(H₂O)_n]⁺团簇中,甲胺甲基上的一个氢原子转移到氨基上,形成分子内质子转移的CH₂NH₃⁺离子核心结构模型,水分子作为氢键受体,与质子化氨基NH₃⁺形成氢键. CH₃NH₂⁺离子核心结构模型没有CH₂NH₃⁺离子核心结构模型稳定. 在团簇的红外光谱中,CH振动、自由NH振动、氢键结合的NH振动和OH振动模式在CH₃NH₂⁺和CH₂NH₃⁺两种离子核心结构模型的理论计算红外光谱中明显不同,因此可用于鉴别甲胺水合离子团簇的结构模型,有助于理解甲胺和水复合团簇的氢键网络结构.     

Selective desorption from the binary coadsorbate C2H6CH3FNaCl by resonant vibrational excitation with laser infrared radiation

After measuring the linear infrared absorption spectrum of the coadsorbate, selective desorption of CH₃F from the binary coadsorbate C₂H₆CH₃FNaCl under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at 12o K stimulated by resonant CO₂ laser pulses of small fluence ～ 0.1 J·cm^t?2 has been carried out. No desorption of ethane, which is slightly more volatile, but has no significant infrared absorption at the laser frequency, was observed. The primary activation step is the resonant multiphoton excitation of the most intense internal CH₃FNaCl adsorbate vibration, the CF stretching mode ν₃. The substance separation seems to indicate high localisation of the activation in this desorption and could be of interest for applications.     

II. Electron-impact dissociative excitation of C<Subscript>2</Subscript>H<Stack><Subscript>2</Subscript><Superscript>+</Superscript></Stack> and C<Subscript>2</Subscript>D<Stack><Subscript>2</Subscript><Superscript>+</Superscript></Stack>

Absolute cross-sections for electron-impact dissociative ionization of C₂ H₂⁺ and C₂ D₂⁺ to CH⁺, C⁺, C₂⁺ , H⁺, CH₂⁺ and C₂D⁺ fragments are determined for electron energies ranging from the corresponding threshold to 2.5 keV. Results obtained in a crossed beams experiment are analyzed to estimate the contribution of dissociative ionization to each fragment formation. The dissociative ionization cross sections are seen to decrease for more than an order of magnitude, from CH⁺ (5.37±0.10) × 10^-17 cm² over C⁺ (4.19± 0.16) × 10^-17 cm², C₂D⁺ (3.94±0.38) × 10^-17 cm², C₂⁺ (3.82±0.15) × 10^-17 cm² and H⁺ (3.37±0.21) × 10^-17 cm² to CH₂⁺ (2.66±0.14) × 10^-18 cm². Kinetic energy release distributions of fragment ions are also determined from the analysis of the product velocity distribution. Cross section values, threshold energies and kinetic energies are compared with the data available from the literature. Conforming to the scheme used in the study of the dissociative excitation of C₂H₂⁺ ( C₂ D₂⁺ )\left( {\rm C}_2 {\rm D}_2^+ \right), the cross-sections are presented in a format suitable for their implementation in plasma simulation codes.     

Tm3+离子掺杂的钨酸钇钠晶体中浓度猝灭效应的研究

测量了Tm³⁺离子不同浓度(0.5at.%, 3 at.%, 5 at.%)掺杂的NaY(WO₄)₂晶体在800nm激光二极管激发下的上转换发射光谱.结合吸收谱、荧光谱和由Judd-Ofelt理论计算的光谱参数，详细分析了Tm³⁺:NaY(WO₄)₂晶体中上转换能量传递机理和离子浓度对上转换发射的影响.讨论了四种影响上转换发光效率的离子间相互作用机理：³H₅+¹G₄→³H₆+¹D₂，³H₅+³H₅→³H₆+³F₃，¹G₄+³H₆→³F₄+³F₃，¹G₄+³H₆→³F₃+³F₄，并根据Miyakawa-Dexter理论定量计算了各过程的发生概率.论证了交叉弛豫和共协上转换等浓度猝灭效应是影响Tm³⁺离子蓝色上转换荧光发射效率的主要因素. 关键词： 3+离子')" href="#">Tm³⁺离子 4)₂晶体')" href="#">NaY(WO₄)₂晶体 上转换 浓度猝灭     

Structures of proton solvates in the HCl-H2O-(CH3)2NCHO system as determined by IR spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations

The structures of proton solvates in the HCl-H₂O-(CH₃)₂NCHO (DMFA) system at H₂O: DMFA ratios ranging from 1: 1 to 21: 1 are studied by the IR spectroscopy method. It is demonstrated that H₂O?H⁺?OH₂ ions and (CH₃)₂NCHO?H⁺?OH₂ mixed solvates with a strong quasi-symmetrical hydrogen bond are formed in solutions. With an increase in the DMFA concentration, the fraction of H₅O ₂ ⁺ ions decreases. At HCl: H₂O ≥ 1: 3 and arbitrary DMFA concentrations, only mixed proton solvates are formed. The continuous absorption coefficients for the (CH₃)₂NCHO?H⁺?OH₂ ions are determined. The results obtained are compared with the results of quantum-chemical calculations of the structure and relative stability of the (DMFA) _m H⁺(H₂O) _n (m = 0–2, n = 0–3) positively charged complexes which were performed by the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) DFT method. We identified 19 stable configurations with chain, cyclic, and branched structures. Most of these configurations contain the (CH₃)₂NCHO?H⁺?OH₂ fragment. The parameters of the O?H⁺?O bridge show that some configurations have a strong quasi-symmetrical hydrogen bond. In some cases, the proton is located between two DMFA molecules. The H₂O?H⁺?OH₂ bridge is observed in none of the stable configurations of the (DMFA) _m H⁺(H₂O) _n (m ≠ 0) complexes.     

A static SIMS/TPD study of the kinetics of methoxy formation and decomposition on O/Pt(111)

The kinetics and mechanism of the decomposition of methanol (CH₃OD) on oxygen-covered Pt(111) were studied using static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The initial sticking coefficient and the saturation first layer coverage of CH₃OD are unity and 0.36 ML, respectively. The maximum amounts decomposed in TPD on O/Pt(111) and clean Pt(111) are 0.19 and 0.047 ML, respectively. At low methanol coverages (< 0.05 ML) on O/Pt(111) the only reaction products were CO₂, H₂O and D₂O, whereas at saturation CO, H₂O, D₂O and H₂ were observed. The decomposed amount did not saturate at or before the onset of molecular methanol desorption, but increeased monotonically until saturation of the first layer. No oxygen exchange was observed between CH₃OD and preadsorbed ¹⁸O. A decomposition mechanism involving methoxy and hydroxyl type species is proposed. Methanol coverages as low as 0.002 ML could be detected with SIMS. The CH₃⁺ ion was the most intense ion in the positive SIMS spectrum of both methanol and methoxy. Larger ion clusters such as (CH₃OD)_n⁺ (n = 2, 3) developed successively at specific multilayer coverages. At low coverages on O/Pt(111), methoxy formation occurs above 125 K and its decomposition becomes detectable above 150 K during temperature programming. In the isothermal mode, the SIMS CH₃⁺ ion was used to follow the kinetics. Over the temperature range 120–145 K, the second order Arrhenius rate parameters for methoxy formation are E = 5.5±0.7 kcal/mol and A = 1.5×10^−7±0.6 cm²/s·molecule for an initial methanol coverage of 0.05 ML. Methoxy decomposition was studied in the temperature range 150–165 K and at an initial coverage of 0.015 ML. The first order kinetic parameters, E = 11.4±0.5 kcal/mol and A = 5.3×10^13±1 s⁻¹ were derived. Advantages and limitations of using SIMS as a tool for kinetic studies are discussed.     

Electron-stimulated desorption of positive ions from hexagonal α-SiC

Electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) of positive ions (H⁺, O⁺, ⁺OH, F⁺ and Cl⁺) from the Si- and C-terminated surfaces of hexagonal α-SiC has been observed for electron energies in the 5–105 eV range. Comparison of these results with those for the ESD of the same ions from the surfaces of Si and condensed hydrocarbons leads to a model for the H⁺, ⁺OH, F⁺ and Cl⁺ threshold desorption process based on transitions from deep valence Si and C “s-like” levels to states in the conduction band, followed by Auger decay to form a localized multiple valence-hole configuration. O⁺ desorption, on the other hand, is initiated by O 2s ionization. Evidence is found for a strong dependence of the F⁺ threshold on the local chemical bonding. The results indicate that the thresholds for ESD of these ions from SiC are determined more by the electronic excitation of the substrate than by direct excitation of the adsorbate bond.     

甲苯光电离解离理论研究

The photoionization and dissociation photoionization of toluene have been studied using quantum chemistry methods.The geometries and frequencies of the reactants,transition states and products have been performed at B3LYP/6-311++G (d,p) level,and single-point energy calculations for all the stationary points were carried out at DFT calculations of the optimized structures with the G3B3 level.The ionization energies of toluene and the appearance energies for major fragment ions,C₇H₇⁺,C₆H₅⁺,C₅H₆⁺,C₅H₅⁺,are determined to be 8.90,11.15 or 11.03,12.72,13.69,16.28 eV,respectively,which are all in good agreement with published experimental data.With the help of available published experimental data and theoretical results,four dissociative photoionization channels have been proposed:C₇H₇⁺+H,C₆H₅⁺+CH₃,C₅H₆⁺+C₂H₂,C₅H₅⁺+C₂H₂+H.Transition structures and intermediates for those isomerization processes are determined in this work.Especially,the structures of C₅H₆⁺ and C₅H₅⁺ produced by dissociative photoionization of toluene have been defined as chain structure in this work with theoretical calculations.     

Desorption of cluster ions from adsorbed methane under cryogenic condition by low-energy ion irradiation

We have investigated ion desorption from adsorbed methane following keV He⁺ ion irradiation. The thickness of the adsorbed layer was precisely controlled. For mono-layered methane, only monomer ions (CH_x⁺) were desorbed by 1 keV He⁺ ion irradiation. On the other hand, a large number of cluster ions (C_nH_x⁺) up to n = 20 were desorbed from multi-layered film. Among cluster ions, molecular ions with CC bonds were found, which indicates that chemical bonds are newly formed by ion irradiation. Based on the results for thickness dependences of the mass spectral patterns, it was elucidated that the monomer ions are desorbed from the top surface layer through single electron excitation. While the cluster ions are formed mainly in the inside of the layers along the nuclear track due to the high-density electronic excitation, which is produced by nuclear collision between incident He⁺ ions and frozen molecules.     

Laser-ionization mass-spectrometric studies on laser ablation of a nitrogen-rich polymer at 532 nm and 1064 nm

Laser-ionization Time-Of-Flight (TOF) mass-spectrometric studies have been carried out on the 532 nm and 1064 nm laser ablation products from a nitrogen-rich polymer. The polymer used had an elemental composition of C_6.0N_8.9H_3.4 and consisted of C=N, C-N, and N-H chemical bonds. The TOF mass spectra observed were composed of various peaks (150 amu) depending on the ablation laser wavelength. The primary peaks were assigned to C⁺, CN⁺, CHnN⁺ ₂ (n=1–3) and C₂H₂N⁺ ₃ for 532 nm ablation, and C⁺, C⁺ ₃, HCN⁺, HCCN⁺, CH₂NH⁺, HNCN⁺, H₃NCN⁺, and C₄H₄N⁺ ₇ for 1064 nm ablation. The flight velocity distributions with peak velocities ranging from 8.6×10³ cm/s to 3.8×10⁴ cm/s were measured for these products. The distinct velocity distributions observed between small and large products indicate the presence of two origins in the fragment ejection process from the polymer for both 532 nm and 1064 nm ablation. Furthermore, we suggest an importance of the translational energy of the fragments for the product generation in the laser plume.     

Investigation of the kinetics of OH∗ and CH∗ chemiluminescence in hydrocarbon oxidation behind reflected shock waves

The temporal variation of chemiluminescence emission from OH^?(A² Σ ⁺) and CH^?(A² Δ) in reacting Ar-diluted H₂/O₂/CH₄, C₂H₂/O₂ and C₂H₂/N₂O mixtures was studied in a shock tube for a wide temperature range at atmospheric pressures and various equivalence ratios. Time-resolved emission measurements were used to evaluate the relative importance of different reaction pathways. The main formation channel for OH^? in hydrocarbon combustion was studied with CH₄ as benchmark fuel. Three reaction pathways leading to CH^? were studied with C₂H₂ as fuel. Based on well-validated ground-state chemistry models from literature, sub-mechanisms for OH^? and CH^? were developed. For the main OH^?-forming reaction CH+O₂=OH^?+CO, a rate coefficient of k ₂=(8.0±2.6)×10¹⁰ cm³?mol^?1?s^?1 was determined. For CH^? formation, best agreement was achieved when incorporating reactions C₂+OH=CH^?+CO (k ₅=2.0×10¹⁴ cm³?mol^?1?s^?1) and C₂H+O=CH^?+CO (k ₆=3.6×10¹²exp(?10.9 kJ?mol^?1/RT) cm³?mol^?1?s^?1) and neglecting the C₂H+O₂=CH^?+CO₂ reaction.     

Quenching cross sections of the B3Π+(Ou+) v′ = 14 level of I2 by H2, CO,and CH4

In this work the deexcitation of the B³Π⁺(O_u⁺), v′ = 14 level of I₂ after pulsed laser excitation has been studied. The quenching cross sections by collisions with I₂, H₂, CO, and CH₄ have been measured. The experimental results are 190 ± 14, 2.5 ± 0.3, 15.1 ± 0.4, and 18.0 ± 0.6 Ų, respectively. These values are compatible (within 30%) with the semiempirical scaling law of proportionality with the product of polarizability and the square root of reduced mass.     

Spatial characterization of H 2 :CH 4 dissociation level in microwave ECR plasma source by fibre-optic OES

Spatially resolved optical emission spectroscopy (SR-OES) was used to investigate microwave activated H₂/Ar/CH₄ plasma under conditions of the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR). The chemistry and composition of the gas phase were studied using self-designed fibre-optic system with echelle type spectrometer during CVD deposition of polycrystalline diamond. One-dimensional intensity profiles of the main species were collected along the vertical axis of chamber. The dominant species in the flux, originating from excited hydrogen and hydrocarbons, were identified as H, H⁺, CH and CH⁺; they are crucial for the diamond deposition process. The effect of ECR on the spatial distribution of H₂ and CH₄ dissociation profiles was studied in depth. The influence of processing parameters (gas flow rates, input power, pressure and magnetic field level) on species excitation as a function of the distance above substrate was asessed. The obtained data can be used for the ECR system optimization.     

Assessment of the nature of interactions of cations with cycloheptatriene derivatives using change in the aromaticity: Comparison with electron density and NBO results

ABSTRACT

Interactions of cycloheptatriene derivatives, C₇H₆X, (X?=?NH, PH, AsH, O, S, Se) with the cations H⁺, CH₃⁺, Cu⁺, Al⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺ are studied using B3LYP functional and 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The calculated gas-phase cation affinities (CA) and cation basicities (CB) for all molecules decrease as H⁺ > CH₃⁺ > Cu⁺ > Al⁺ > Li⁺ > Na⁺ > K⁺. We used the induced aromaticity in the 7-membered ring of C₇H₆X upon interaction with the cations, M⁺, as a measure of C₇H₆X/M⁺ interaction. Nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS) and harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA) were used as two indices of aromaticity. The highest and lowest induced aromaticities were observed for interactions of H⁺ and K⁺, respectively. Also, the aromaticity induced by interaction with a cation in C₇H₆AsH and C₇H₆PH was larger than that in C₇H₆NH and C₇H₆O. Hence, the aromaticity was considered as a measure of covalency for the C₇H₆X/M⁺ interactions showing a rational dependence on both the molecule and cation. The nature of the interactions was also assessed using electron density, charge distribution analysis and NBO calculations. The results of the aromaticity indices, NICS and HOMA, were compared with the electron density and NBO results.