Thermochemistry of Metal-ligand Bonds (Singly and Multiply Charged)

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

Peter Armentrout of the University of Utah is supported by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program to continue his experimental research in gas-phase organometallic ion chemistry and chemical dynamics. This effort will utilize guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometry, coupled with ion production using a DC discharge/flow tube ion source and a newly developed electrospray/ion funnel/hexapole ion guided ion source. Four related areas of chemical interactions will be studied. First, studies of the chemistry of third row transition metal ions designed to measure bond energies between metals and various hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon ligands will be pursued. An ion mobility source will be developed to enable new state-specific chemistry studies on heavier transition metal elements with an emphasis on a quantitative evaluation of spin-orbit effects on reactivity. Second, solvation energies of multiply charged metal ions will be quantitatively assessed starting with the hydration of doubly-charged alkaline earth metal ions. Next, bond dissociation energies between metal ions and biologically relevant molecules will be explored. Finally, additional studies of the energy transfer function will be performed and statistical methods for analysis of reaction dynamics will continue to be developed, including those for sequential dissociation pathways, multiply-charged metal-ligand complexes, and increasingly large systems. The thermodynamic information that is acquired and disseminated in this research is relevant to applications in surface science, organometallic chemistry, catalysis, biological systems, and plasma chemistry. The data analysis program CRUNCH, which continues to evolve, is made freely available and used by groups around the world. The undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral associates involved in this interdisciplinary science are exposed to a broad range of topics, working with state-of-the-art physical and analytical methods.