Gas-phase metal trications in protic solvent complexes.
In the first observation of triply charged metal ions microsolvated by protic ligands, gas-phase complexes of 11 different metal trications with diacetone alcohol were generated using electrospray ionization. These species were found to exist for at least five to eight ligands, depending on the metal. For smaller sizes, charge reduction to dications occurs spontaneously via dissociative proton transfer. This is the largest minimum size reported for any multiply charged metal cation/ligand pair.
Shvartsburg
Alexandre A
AA
Division of Chemistry, National Center for Toxicological Research, HFT-233, 3900 NCTR Road, Jefferson, Arkansas 72079, USA. ashvartsburg@nctr.fda.gov