Extraordinary Cluster Formation and Intramolecular Ligand−Ligand Interactions in Cyanoactylene Mediated by Mg+•: Implications for the Atmospheric Chemistry of Titan and for Circumstellar Chemistry

Spectroscopic Study of [Mg, H, N, C, O] Species: Implications for the Astrochemical Magnesium Chemistry

Magnesium is an abundant metal element in space, and magnesium chemistry has vital importance in the evolution of interstellar medium (ISM) and circumstellar regions, such as the asymptotic giant branch star IRC+10216 where a variety of Mg compounds bearing H, C, N, and O have been detected and proposed as the important components in the gas-phase molecular clouds and solid-state dust grains. Herein, we report the formation and infrared spectroscopic characterization of the Mg-bearing molecules HMg, [Mg, N, C], [Mg, H, N, C], [Mg, N, C, O], and [Mg, H, N, C, O] from the reactions of Mg/Mg+ and the prebiotic isocyanic acid (HNCO) in the solid neon matrix. Based on their thermal diffusion and photochemical behavior, a complex reactivity landscape involving association, decomposition, and isomerization reactions of these Mg-bearing molecules is developed, which can not only help understand the chemical processes of the magnesium (iso)cyanides in astrochemistry but also provide implications on the presence of magnesium (iso)cyanates in the ISM and the chemical model for the dust grain surface reactions. It also provides a new paradigm of the key intermediate nature of the cationic complexes in the formation of neutral interstellar species.

Collision-induced dissociation products of the protonated dipeptide carnosine: structural elucidation, fragmentation pathways and potential energy surface analysis

Collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments on protonated carnosine, [carnosine + H](+), with several collision energies were shown to yield eleven different fragment ions with the generation of product ions [carnosine-H2O + H](+) and [carnosine-NH3 + H](+) being the lowest energy processes. Energy-resolved CID showed that at slightly higher collision energies the ions [histidine + H](+) and [histidine-H2O-CO + H](+) are formed. At even higher energies four other product ions were observed, however, attained relatively lower abundances. Quantum chemistry calculations, carried out at different levels of theory, were employed to probe fragmentation mechanisms that account for all the experimental data. All the adopted computational protocols give similar energetic trends, and the range of the calculated free energy barrier values for the generation of all the observed product ions is in agreement with the fragmentation mechanisms offered here.

Gaseous ions and chemical mass spectrometry

The intrinsic chemical reactivities of ions can be monitored in the gas phase using mass spectrometers that are coupled to appropriate ion sources and reaction cells. Here the author surveys his own experiences over the past 40 years as an ion chemist. He used flow-tube techniques for room temperature measurements of the intrinsic chemical reactivities of a large variety of positive and negative ions, including bare atomic ions, ions found in solution, biological ions, carbonaceous ions, and interstellar, cometary, and ionospheric ions. Progress in the measurement of chemical reactions of these ions with flow-tube mass spectrometry in the author’s laboratory was been driven largely by developments in techniques of ion injection into the flow tube and of ion production (e.g., by electron impact, plasma ionization, and electrospray ionization). Chemical topics that are covered include: acid-base and nucleophilic displacement reactions that have bridged the gap between the gas phase and solution; interstellar ions and their role in molecular synthesis such as the synthesis of amino acids; the chemistry of fullerene cations as a function of charge state; fundamentals and applications of the chemistry of atomic cations with an emphasis on transition metal and lanthanide cations; atomic metal-ion catalysis; and chemical reactions of singly and multiply charged biological anions and cations in the gas phase.Key words: ions, mass spectrometry, kinetics, ion chemistry.

Ions in space

We review the detection history, observation, distribution, and reactivity of molecular ions in extraterrestrial space, with particular (though not exclusive) reference to interstellar monocations. The diversity of interstellar ion chemistry is highlighted with reaction examples, drawn from the authors' own laboratories and elsewhere, and attempt to provide an overview of this broad and increasingly divergent field. Emphasis is given to the role of ions in the synthesis of molecules, including their ability to catalyze the transformation of neutral molecules.