Intact Four‐atom Organic Tetracation Stabilized by Charge Localization in the Gas Phase

Several features distinguish intact multiply charged molecular cations (MMCs) from other species such as monocations and polycations: high potential energy, high electron affinity, a high density of electronic states with various spin multiplicities, and charge‐dependent reactions. However, repulsive Coulombic interactions make MMCs quite unstable, and hence small organic MMCs are currently not readily available. Herein, we report that the isolated four‐atom molecule diiodoacetylene survives after the removal of four electrons via tunneling. We show that the tetracation remains metastable towards dissociation because of the localization (91–95 %) of the positive charges on the terminal iodine atoms, ensuring minimum Coulomb repulsion between adjacent atoms as well as maximum charge‐induced attractive dipole interactions between iodine and carbon. Our approach making use of iodines as the positively charged sites enables small organic MMCs to remain intact.     

Gas‐Phase Interactions between Lead(II) Ions and Cytosine: Tandem Mass Spectrometry and Infrared Multiple‐Photon Dissociation Spectroscopy Study

Gas‐phase interactions between Pb²⁺ ions and cytosine (C) were studied by combining tandem mass spectrometry, infrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Both singly and doubly charged complexes were generated by electrospray. The [Pb(C)?H]⁺ complex was extensively studied, and this study shows that two structures, involving the interaction of the metal with the deprotonated canonical keto‐amino tautomer of cytosine, are generated in the gas phase; the prominent structure is the bidentate form involving both the N1 and O2 electronegative centers. The DFT study also points out a significant charge transfer from the nucleobase to the low‐lying p orbitals of the metal and a strong polarization of the base upon complexation. The various potential energy surfaces explored to account for the fragmentation observed are consistent with the high abundance of the [PbNH₂]⁺ fragment ion.     

Gas Phase Ion Chemistry of Transition Metal Clusters: Production, Reactivity, and Catalysis

This review focuses on the use of mass spectrometry to examine the gas phase ion chemistry of metal clusters. Ways of forming gas phase clusters are briefly overviewed and then the gas phase chemistry of silver clusters is discussed to illustrate the concepts of magic numbers and how reactivity can be size dependent. The chemistry of other bare and ligated metal clusters is examined, including mixed metal dimer ions as models for microalloys. Metal clusters that catalyze gas phase chemical reactions such as the oxidation of CO and organic substrates are reviewed. Finally the interface between nanotechnology and mass spectrometry is also considered.     

Isotope exchange in ionised CO2/CO mixtures: the role of asymmetrical C2O3+ ions

A hitherto unknown, atmospherically relevant, isotope-exchange reaction was studied in ionised gaseous mixtures containing carbon dioxide and monoxide. The mechanism of the O exchange, proceeding over a double-minimum potential-energy surface, was positively established by mass spectrometric and theoretical methods that also allowed the identification and characterisation of the C2O3+ intermediate. The increase of internal energy displaces the observed reactivity towards an endothermic reaction path that involves only CO2 and represents an indirect route to the dissociation of carbon dioxide.     

Photolysis of o‐Nitrobenzaldehyde in the Gas Phase: A New OH. Formation Channel

New route to gas‐phase OH^. : UV photolysis of gaseous o‐nitrobenzaldehyde forms OH radicals via the transformation into the ketene or o‐nitrosobenzoic acid intermediate (see figure). The OH^. product is monitored by single‐photon laser‐induced fluorescence (LIF).

     

Unimolecular reactivity of uracil-Cu(2+) complexes in the gas phase.

The gas-phase interaction of copper(II) ions with uracil are studied by means of mass spectrometry and B3LYP/6-311+G(2df,2p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) calculations. Positive-ion electrospray spectra show that the reaction of uracil with copper(II) gives rise to singly charged species, whereby the [Cu(uracil--H)](+) complex is the most intense ion in the spectra at low concentration. Mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments show that the loss of HNCO and NCO are the dominant fragmentation processes, accompanied by a minor loss of CO. A systematic study of the spectra obtained with different labeled species, namely, 2-(13)C- (m/z 175), 2-(13)C,1,3-(15)N(2)- (m/z 177) and 3-(15)N-uracil (m/z 175), concludes unambiguously that both the loss of HNCO and NCO involve exclusively C2 and N3, whereas only C4 is involved in the loss of CO. Suitable mechanisms for these fragmentation processes are proposed through a theoretical survey of the corresponding potential energy surface. In these mechanisms, pi complexes, which lie high in energy with respect to the global minimum, play a significant role in the loss of NCO; this explains why both products, HNCO and NCO involve the same atoms of the ring.     

Structure and Dynamics of Oligonucleotides in the Gas Phase

By combining ion‐mobility mass spectrometry experiments with sub‐millisecond classical and ab initio molecular dynamics we fully characterized, for the first time, the dynamic ensemble of a model nucleic acid in the gas phase under electrospray ionization conditions. The studied oligonucleotide unfolds upon vaporization, loses memory of the solution structure, and explores true gas‐phase conformational space. Contrary to our original expectations, the oligonucleotide shows very rich dynamics in three different timescales (multi‐picosecond, nanosecond, and sub‐millisecond). The shorter timescale dynamics has a quantum mechanical nature and leads to changes in the covalent structure, whereas the other two are of classical origin. Overall, this study suggests that a re‐evaluation on our view of the physics of nucleic acids upon vaporization is needed.     

Gas‐Phase Reaction of CeV2O7+ with C2H4: Activation of CC and CH Bonds

The reactivity of metal oxide clusters toward hydrocarbon molecules can be changed, tuned, or controlled by doping. Cerium‐doped vanadium cluster cations CeV₂O₇⁺ are generated by laser ablation, mass‐selected by a quadrupole mass filter, and then reacted with C₂H₄ in a linear ion trap reactor. The reaction is characterized by a reflectron time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer. Three types of reaction channels are observed: 1) single oxygen‐atom transfer , 2) double oxygen‐atom transfer , and 3) C?C bond cleavage. This study provides the first bimetallic oxide cluster ion, CeV₂O₇⁺, which gives rise to C?C bond cleavage of ethene. Neither Ce_xO_y^± nor V_xO_y^± alone possess the necessary topological and electronic properties to bring about such a reaction.     

The Pauson–Khand Mechanism Revisited: Origin of CO in the Final Product

The mechanism of the Pauson–Khand reaction has been studied by mass spectrometry and it has been found, through ion‐molecule reaction with ¹³CO, that the carbon monoxide incorporated into the product cyclopentenone is one that has been retained within the complex. Theoretical and kinetic calculations support this finding, which provides a complementary explanation for the effect of Pauson–Khand promoters.     

Platinum Group Metal Clusters: From Gas‐Phase Structures and Reactivities towards Model Catalysts

Transition‐metal clusters have long been proposed as model systems to study heterogeneous catalysts. In this Concept article we show how advanced spectroscopic techniques can be used to determine the structures of gas‐phase transition‐metal clusters and their complexes with small molecules. Combined with computational studies, this can help to develop an understanding of the reactivity of these catalytic models.     

Observation of an unusually facile fragmentation pathway of gas-phase peptide ions: a study on the gas-phase fragmentation mechanism and energetics of tryptic peptides modified with 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate (SPITC) and 4-chlorosulfophenyl isocyanate (SPC) and their 18-crown-6 complexes

Various peptide modifications have been explored recently to facilitate the acquisition of sequence information. N-terminal sulfonation is an interesting modification because it allows unambiguous de novo sequencing of peptides, especially in conjunction with MALDI-PSD-TOF analysis; such modified peptide ions undergo fragmentation at energies lower than those required conventionally for unmodified peptide ions. In this study, we systematically investigated the fragmentation mechanisms of N-terminal sulfonated peptide ions prepared using two different N-terminal sulfonation reagents: 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate (SPITC) and 4-chlorosulfophenyl isocyanate (SPC). Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the SPC-modified peptide ions produced a set of y-series ions that were more evenly distributed relative to those observed for the SPITC-modified peptides; y(n-1) ion peaks were consistently and significantly larger than the signals of the other y-ions. We experimentally investigated the differences between the dissociation energies of the SPITC- and SPC-modified peptide ions by comparing the MS/MS spectra of the complexes formed between the crown ether 18-crown-6 (CE) and the modified peptides. Upon CID, the complexes formed between 18-crown-6 ether and the protonated amino groups of C-terminal lysine residues underwent either peptide backbone fragmentation or complex dissociation. Although the crown ether complexes of the unmodified ([M + CE + 2H]2+) and SPC-modified ([M* + CE + 2H]2+) peptides underwent predominantly noncovalent complex dissociation upon CID, the low-energy dissociations of the crown ether complexes of the SPITC-modified peptides ([M' + CE + 2H]2+) unexpectedly resulted in peptide backbone fragmentations, along with a degree of complex dissociation. We performed quantum mechanical calculations to address the energetics of fragmentations observed for the modified peptides.     

Breslow Intermediates (Amino Enols) and Their Keto Tautomers: First Gas-Phase Characterization by IR Ion Spectroscopy

Breslow intermediates (BIs) are the crucial nucleophilic amino enol intermediates formed from electrophilic aldehydes in the course of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed umpolung reactions. Both in organocatalytic and enzymatic umpolung, the question whether the Breslow intermediate exists as the nucleophilic enol or in the form of its electrophilic keto tautomer is of utmost importance for its reactivity and function. Herein, the preparation of charge-tagged Breslow intermediates/keto tautomers derived from three different types of NHCs (imidazolidin-2-ylidenes, 1,2,4-triazolin-5-ylidenes, thiazolin-2-ylidenes) and aldehydes is reported. An ammonium charge tag is introduced through the aldehyde unit or the NHC. ESI-MS IR ion spectroscopy allowed the unambiguous conclusion that in the gas phase, the imidazolidin-2-ylidene-derived BI indeed exists as a diamino enol, while both 1,2,4-triazolin-5-ylidenes and thiazolin-2-ylidenes give the keto tautomer. This result coincides with the tautomeric states observed for the BIs in solution (NMR) and in the crystalline state (XRD), and is in line with our earlier calculations on the energetics of BI keto–enol equilibria.     

Dendrimer Disassembly in the Gas Phase: A Cascade Fragmentation Reaction of Fréchet Dendrons

The mass spectrometric characterization of Fréchet‐type dendrons is reported. In order to provide the charges necessary for electrospray ionization, dendrons bearing an OH group at the focal point can be deprotonated and observed in the negative ion mode. Alternatively, the corresponding bromides can be converted to quaternary ammonium ions that can easily be detected in the positive mode. If the latter ions are subjected to collision‐induced dissociation experiments, a fragmentation cascade begins with the dissociation of the focal amine. The focal benzyl cation quickly decomposes in a fragmentation cascade from the focal point to the periphery until the peripheral benzyl (or naphthylmethyl) cations are formed. Five different mechanisms are discussed in detail, three of which can be excluded based on experimental evidence. The cascade fragmentation is reminiscent of self‐immolative dendrimers.     

Theoretical dynamic studies on the reaction of CH3C(O)CH3-nFn with the hydroxyl radical and the chlorine atom.

The mechanisms of the reactions: CH(3)C(O)CH(2)F+OH/Cl-->products (R1/R2) and CH(3)C(O)CF(3)+OH/Cl-->products (R3/R4) are studied over a wide temperature range (200-2000 K) by means of the dual-level direct dynamics method. The optimized geometries and frequencies of the stationary points are calculated at the MP2/cc-pVDZ and B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) levels. The energy profiles of the reactions are then refined with the interpolated single-point-energy method (ISPE) at the BMC-CCSD level. The canonical variational transition-state theory (CVT) with the small-curvature-tunneling (SCT) correction method is used to calculate the rate constants. Using group-balanced isodesmic reactions as working chemical reactions, the standard enthalpies of formation for CH(3)C(O)CH(2)F, CH(3)C(O)CF(3), CH(3)C(O)CHF, CH(2)C(O)CH(2)F, and CH(2)C(O)CF(3) are evaluated at the CCSD(T)/6-311+G(2d,p)//MP2/cc-pVDZ level of theory. The results indicate that the hydrogen abstraction is dominated by removal from the fluoromethyl position rather than from the methyl position.