Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of organic-inorganic materials: identification and gas-phase reactivity of functionalized octahedral rhenium(III) clusters

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was used for the analysis of functionalized rhenium clusters such as [Re6Se8(o-Me2TTFPPh2)6]2+ (1), {Re6Se8[(o-Me2TTF)2PPh]6}2+ (2) and [Re6Se8(MePPh2)6]2+ (3). The high-resolution mass spectra of the intact clusters, performed in dichloromethane, confirm the identification of the compounds by comparison with the theoretical isotopic distributions. Low-resolution full-scan mass spectra recorded at increasing desolvation cone voltage values allow the study of the intrinsic reactivity of ionic species. The survival yield curves illustrating the bimolecular reactivity of 1 and 2 suggest that a bisdimethyltetrathiafulvalene(phenyl)phosphine ligand increases the stability of the functionalized ML6(2+) cluster 2. In the case of the 3, instead of loss of a neutral ligand, ligand exchange is observed either with traces of water present in dichloromethane or with acetonitrile used as solvent.