title: Gas-Phase Fragmentation of Aluminum Oxide Nitrate Anions Driven by Reactive Oxygen Radical Ligands.
abstract: Gas-phase metal nitrate anions are known to yield a variety of interesting metal oxides upon fragmentation. The aluminum nitrate anion complexes, Al(NO3)4(-) and AlO(NO3)3(-) were generated by electrospray ionization and studied with collision-induced dissociation and energy-resolved mass spectrometry. Four different decomposition processes were observed, the loss of NO3(-), NO3(•), NO2(•), and O2. The oxygen radical ligand in AlO(NO3)3(-) is highly reactive and drives the formation of AlO(NO3)2(-) upon loss of NO3(•), AlO2(NO3)2(-) upon NO2(•) loss, or Al(NO2)(NO3)2(-) upon abstraction of an oxygen atom from a neighboring nitrate ligand followed by loss of O2. The AlO2(NO3)2(-) fragment also undergoes elimination of O2. The mechanism for O2 elimination requires oxygen atom abstraction from a nitrate ligand in both AlO(NO3)3(-) and AlO2(NO3)2(-), revealing the hidden complexity in the fragmentation of these clusters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, United States.
authors.forename: Johnny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lightcap
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Hester
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, United States.
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamena
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, United States.
authors.forename: Rachael M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Albury
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, United States.
authors.forename: Carrie Jo M
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Pruitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, United States.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Goebbert