Mass Spectrometry
The Schalley group uses Mass Spectrometry as a tool for the understanding of non-covalent complexes.
Mass spectrometry is more than a routine analytical method. By bringing the complexes into the gas phase
as ions, they become accessible for the whole arsenal of gas-phase chemistry.
For this purpose, the group uses a Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray source for soft ionization of the weakly bound complexes. The ions of interest can be mass-selected and subjected to different kinds of experiments such as collision-induced dissociation (CID), infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD), electron capture dissociation (ECD), or bimolecular reactions with a volatile neutral reactant gas.
Our MS experiments provide data on the structure of non-covalent complexes (e.g. topological isomers of mechanically bound molecules, encapsulation complexes), their reactivity in solution (e.g. ligand exchange processes), and their reactivity in the gas phase. Since the ions under study are isolated species when stored in the mass spectrometers analyzer cell, they do not undergo exchanges anymore and react in a completely new way.