FTMS Studies of Sputtered Metal Cluster Ions (III): The Chemistry of Ni+n, Co+n, V+n, Ag+n, Au+nand Fe+nwith C2H4, C6H6or NH3

Detection of OH Stretching Mode of CH3OH Chemisorbed on Ni3+ and Ni4+ by Infrared Photodissociation Spectroscopy

Structures of nickel cluster ions adsorbed with methanol, Ni3+ (CH3OH)m (m = 1-3) and Ni4+ (CH3OH)m (m = 1-4) were investigated by using infrared photodissociation (IR-PD) spectroscopy based on a tandem-type mass spectrometer, where they were produced by passing Ni3,4+ through methanol vapor under a multiple collision condition. The IR-PD spectra were measured in the wavenumber region between 3100 and 3900 cm-1. In each IR-PD spectrum, a single peak was observed at a wavenumber lower by approximately 40 cm-1 than that of the OH stretching vibration of a free methanol molecule and was assigned to the OH stretching vibrations of the methanol molecules in Ni3,4+ (CH3OH)m. The photodissociation was analyzed by assuming that Ni3,4+ (CH3OH)m dissociate unimolecularly after the photon energy absorbed by them is statistically distributed among the accessible modes of Ni3,4+ (CH3OH)m. In comparison with the calculations performed by the density functional theory, it is concluded that (1) the oxygen atom of each methanol molecule is bound to one of the nickel atoms in Ni3,4+ (defined as molecular chemisorption), (2) the methanol molecules in Ni3,4+ (CH3OH)m do not form any hydrogen bonds, and (3) the cross section for demethanation [CH4 detachment from Nin+ (CH3OH)] is related to the electron density distribution inside the methanol molecule.

Experimental and theoretical study on gas-phase ion/molecule reactions of silver trimer cation, Ag3+, with 12-crown-4

The reaction mechanisms of silver trimer cation, Ag3+, with 12-crown-4 (12C4) were studied experimentally and theoretically. Using a cylindrical ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometer, gas-phase ion/molecule reactions of Ag3+ with 12C4 were observed. Metal-ligand complexes of [Ag(12C4)]+, [Ag3(12C4)]+ and [Ag3(12C4)2]+, and of [Ag(12C4)2]+ and [Ag3(12C4)3]+, were observed as the reaction intermediates and terminal products, respectively. The formations of the [Ag12C4]+ and [Ag(12C4)2]+ complexes indicated that the neutral dimer (Ag2) had been eliminated from the trimer cation. From the results of ab initio calculations at the HF/LanL2DZ level of theory and the experiments, it is suggested that three 12C4 molecules can attach to Ag3+ through consecutive reactions and that neutral Ag2 can be easily eliminated from [Ag3(12C4)]+.

Guided ion-beam studies of the kinetic-energy-dependent reactions of Con+(n=2–16) with D2: Cobalt cluster-deuteride bond energies

The kinetic-energy-dependent cross sections for the reactions of Co(n)+ (n = 2-16) with D2 are measured as a function of kinetic energy over a range of 0-8 eV in a guided ion-beam tandem mass spectrometer. The observed products are Co(n) D+ for all clusters and Co(n)D2+ for n = 4,5,9-16. Reactions for the formation of Co(n)D+ (n = 2-16) and Co9D2+ are observed to exhibit thresholds, whereas cross sections for the formation of Co(n)D2+ (n = 4,5,10-16) exhibit exothermic reaction behavior. The Co(n)+-D bond energies as a function of cluster size are derived from the threshold analysis of the kinetic-energy dependence of the endothermic reactions and are compared to previously determined metal-metal bond energies, D0(Co(n)+-Co). The bond energies of Co(n)+-D generally increase as the cluster size increases, and roughly parallel those for Co(n)+-Co for clusters n > or = 4. These trends are explained in terms of electronic and geometric structures for the Co(n)+ clusters. The bond energies of Co(n)+-D for larger clusters (n > or = 10) are found to be very close to the value for chemisorption of atomic hydrogen on bulk-phase cobalt. The rate constants for D2 chemisorption on the cationic clusters are compared with the results from previous work on cationic and neutral cobalt clusters.

Reactions of cationic iron clusters with ammonia, models of nitrogen hydrogenation and dehydrogenation

The gas phase reactivities of small cationic iron clusters, Fen+ (n = 1-20), towards ammonia were investigated using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry. Sequential addition of ammonia molecules to the clusters was observed to be the dominating process for n > 4. In the case of n = 4 we observed addition of ammonia accompanied by dehydrogenation. This reaction was modelled using hybrid density functional theory. Clusters with n < 4 do not react with ammonia. Clusters Fen+ (n = 1-20) react with neither N2 nor H2 at around 10(-8) mbar. When dinitrogen was seeded into the expanding helium, mixed clusters of the type FenNm+ were observed. These ions react with H2, either by addition, or by substitution of N2. The clusters with m = 1 were isolated in separate experiments and reacted with H2, which showed that mixed clusters with n = 5-13 add up to 5 molecules of dihydrogen in successive slow reactions.

Reactions and thermochemistry of small transition metal cluster ions

This review discusses the reactivities and thermodynamics of small-size-specific transition metal clusters and focuses on thermodynamic information, which has not been comprehensively discussed before. Because of this focus, guided-ion-beam mass spectrometry was used to acquire much of the data. The details of this technique and the associated data analysis methods are provided. Results on the stabilities of bare transition metal clusters are provided for neutral, cationic, and anionic species. Implications for the electronic and geometrical structures are discussed, as well as the extrapolation of these values to bulk phase behavior. Detailed results for reactions of transition metal clusters with D2 and the oxygen donors O2 and CO2 are reviewed. Available bond energies between size-specific clusters and one D atom and one and two O atoms are compiled, and their implications are evaluated and favorably compared with bulk phase analogs. Several additional thermodynamic studies of various cluster systems are also discussed.

REACTIONS OFTRANSITIONMETALCLUSTERS WITHSMALLMOLECULES

Atoms and small molecules react with transition metal clusters in ways that are analogous to the physisorption and chemisorption reactions observed on the corresponding extended metal surface. However, often underlying these similarities are size-dependent variations in the reaction mechanisms and rates, the interpretation of which requires a detailed understanding of the structures of both the bare metal cluster substrates and the cluster-molecule complexes. Although polyatomic transition metal clusters cannot be characterized by the traditional methods of molecular spectroscopy, the combination of other physical and chemical probes can provide qualitative and semiquantitative structural information. These techniques, when combined with equilibrium geometries calculated using ab initio or semiempirical methods, provide a detailed picture of the structural origin of metal cluster reactivity and its variation with size.