Dissociative chemistry of ionic transition metal cluster fragments

The ionic fragments formed by collision-induced dissociation of Mn₂(CO)_y⁺ ions (y=1–10) are reported. The ratio of product ions formed by metal-metal vs. metal-ligand bond cleavage are discussed in terms of the dependence of the metal-metal bond energy on the metal-to-ligand ratio. The collision-induced dissociation data indicate that the metal-metal bond energy of Mn₂(CO)₅⁺ and Mn₂(CO)₁₀⁺ is less than that for Mn₂(CO)_y⁺ (y=1–4 and 6–9). The product ions arising by metal-metal and metal-ligand bond cleavage reactions for collision-induced dissociation and photodissociation are compared. On the basis of this data and the known photochemistry/photophysics of Mn₂(CO)₁₀, it is proposed that the difference in collision-induced dissociation and photodissociation product ion branching ratios is attributable to spin-orbit transitions of the activated ions.