Decomposition pathway of diaquabis(N,N'-dimethyl-1,2-ethanediamine)Ni(II) acesulfamate

Summary Prediction of the thermal decomposition pathway of the metal complexes is very important from the theoretical and experimental point of view to determine the properties and structural differences of complexes. In the prediction of the decomposition pathways of complexes, besides the thermal analysis techniques, some ancillary techniques e.g. mass spectroscopy is also used in recent years. In the light of the molecular structures and fragmentation components, it is believed that the thermal decomposition pathway of most molecules is similar to the ionisation mechanism occurring in the mass spectrometer ionisation process. In this study, the thermal decomposition pathway of [Ni(dmen)₂(H₂O)₂](acs)₂ complex have been predicted by the help of thermal analysis data (TG, DTG and DTA) and mass spectroscopic fragmentation pattern. The complex was decomposed in four stages: a) dehydration between 84-132°C, b) loss of N,N'-dimethylethylenediamine (dmen) ligand, c) decomposition of remained dmen and acesulfamato (acs) by releasing SO₂, d) burning of the organic residue to resulting in NiO. The volatile products observed in the thermal decomposition process were also observed in the mass spectrometer ionisation process except molecular peak and it was concluded that the ionisation and thermal decomposition pathway of the complex resembles each other.