Compact non-rock-salt structures in sodium fluoride cluster ions at specific sizes revealed by ion mobility mass spectrometry

Size-Dependent Geometrical Structures of Platinum Oxide Cluster Cations Studied by Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry

Structures of platinum oxide cluster cations (Pt_nO_m⁺) were studied by ion mobility-mass spectrometry in combination with theoretical calculations. Structures of oxygen-equivalent Pt_nO_n⁺ (n = 3-7) clusters were discussed from the comparison between their collision cross sections (CCSs) obtained by mobility measurement and simulated CCSs of their structural candidates from structural optimization calculations. Assigned structures of Pt_nO_n⁺ were found to be composed of Pt frameworks and bridging O atoms, which follows the previous theoretical prediction on the neutral clusters. The structures change from planar (n = 3 and 4) to three-dimensional (n = 5-7) with increasing cluster size by deforming platinum frameworks. Comparison with other group-10 metal oxide cluster cations (M_nO_n⁺; M = Ni and Pd) showed that the Pt_nO_n⁺ structures have a similar tendency to Pd_nO_n⁺ rather than Ni_nO_n⁺.

Ion Mobility Collision Cross Section Compendium

In this review, we focus on an important aspect of ion mobility (IM) research, namely the reporting of quantitative ion mobility measurements in the form of the gas-phase collision cross section (CCS), which has provided a common basis for comparison across different instrument platforms and offers a unique form of structural information, namely size and shape preferences of analytes in the absence of bulk solvent. This review surveys the over 24,000 CCS values reported from IM methods spanning the era between 1975 to 2015, which provides both a historical and analytical context for the contributions made thus far, as well as insight into the future directions that quantitative ion mobility measurements will have in the analytical sciences. The analysis was conducted in 2016, so CCS values reported in that year are purposely omitted. In another few years, a review of this scope will be intractable, as the number of CCS values which will be reported in the next three to five years is expected to exceed the total amount currently published in the literature.

Compositions and Structures of Vanadium Oxide Cluster Ions VmOn(±) (m = 2-20) Investigated by Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry

Stable compositions and geometrical structures of vanadium oxide cluster ions, VmOn(±), were investigated by ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS). The most stable compositions of vanadium oxide cluster cations were (V2O4)(V2O5)(m-2)/2(+) and (VO2)(V2O5)(m-1)/2(+), depending on the clusters with even and odd numbers of vanadium atoms. Compositions one-oxygen richer than the cations, such as (V2O5)m/2(-) and (VO3)(V2O5)(m-1)/2(-), were predominantly observed for cluster anions. Assignments of these stable cluster ion compositions, which were determined as a result of collision-induced dissociations in IM-MS, can partly be explained with consideration of spin density distribution. By comparing the experimental collision cross sections (CCSs) obtained from ion mobility measurement with CCSs of the theoretically calculated structures, we confirmed the patterned growth of geometrical structures partially discussed in previous theoretical and spectroscopic studies. We showed that even sized (V2O5)m/2(±) where m = 6-12 had right polygonal prism structures except for the anionic V12O30(-), and for the clusters of odd numbers of vanadium m, cations and anions can either have bridged or pyramid structures. Both of the odd sized structures proposed were derivatives from the even sized right polygonal prism structures. The exception, V12O30(-), which had a CCS almost equal to that of the neighboring smaller V11O28(-), should have a structure of higher density than the right hexagonal prism, in which it was proposed to be a captured pyramid structure, derived from V11O28(-).

Application of Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry to the Study of Ionic Clusters: Investigation of Cluster Ions with Stable Sizes and Compositions

Stable cluster sizes and compositions have been investigated for cations and anions of ionic bond clusters such as alkali halides and transition metal oxides by ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS). Usually structural information of ions can be obtained from collision cross sections determined in IM-MS. In addition, we have found that stable ion sizes or compositions were predominantly produced in a total ion mass spectrum, which was constructed from the IM-MS measurement. These stable species were produced as a result of collision induced dissociations of the ions in a drift cell. We have confirmed this result in the sodium fluoride cluster ions, in which cuboid magic number cluster ions were predominantly observed. Next the stable compositions, which were obtained for the oxide systems of the first row transition metals, Ti, Fe, and Co, are characteristic for each of the metal oxide cluster ions.