MICROSOLVATION OF Ni$^{2+}$ AND Co$^{2+}$ BY ACETONITRILE AND WATER: PHOTODISSOCIATION DYNAMICS OF M$^{2+}$(CH$_3$CN)$_n$(H$_2$O)$_m$
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Abstract
The microsolvation of metal dications by acetonitrile and water study is important in understanding the interaction of solvents with the metal center and how the nature of the solvent, protic water and aprotic acetonitrile, affect binding and charge transfer dynamics. The clusters were produced by electrospray and characterized by photofragment spectroscopy in an ion trap dual time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The homogeneous clusters with acetonitrile, n=4 and 3 dissociated by simple solvent loss and only n=2 showed electron transfer as a dissociation pathway. Mixed clusters with water and acetonitrile reveal more interesting dissociation dynamics. In larger mixed clusters (n=4 and 3), the water loss was favored over acetonitrile loss by a significant yield which is understandable because acetonitrile is a better solvent in the gas phase due to its higher dipole moment and polarizability. Proton transfer was observed as a minor channel for M
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Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801; Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01002