Polyatomic ions in inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry: Part II: Origins of N2H and HxCO ions using experimental measurements combined with calculated energies and structures

Several polyatomic ions in inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry are studied experimentally and by computational methods. Novel calculations based on spin-restricted open shell second order perturbation theory (ZAPT2) and coupled cluster (CCSD(T)) theory are performed to determine the energies, structures and partition functions of the ions. These values are combined with experimental data to evaluate a dissociation constant and gas kinetic temperature (T_gas) value. In our opinion, the resulting T_gas value can sometimes be interpreted to deduce the location where the polyatomic ion of interest is generated. The dissociation of N₂H⁺ to N₂⁺ leads to a calculated T_gas of 4550 to 4900 K, depending on the computational data used. The COH⁺ to CO⁺ system yields a similar temperature, which is not surprising considering the similar energies and structures of COH⁺ and N₂H⁺. The dissociation of H₂CO⁺ to HCO⁺ leads to a much lower T_gas (< 1000 to 2000 K). Finally, the dissociation of H₂COH⁺ to HCOH⁺ generates a T_gas value between those from the other H_xCO⁺ ions studied here. All of these measured T_gas values correspond to formation of extra polyatomic ion in the interface or extraction region. The computations reveal the existence of isomers such as HCO⁺ and COH⁺, and H₂CO⁺ and HCOH⁺, which have virtually the same m/z values and need to be considered in the interpretation of results.