Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool in disparate areas of chemistry, but its characteristic strength of sensitivity can be an Achilles heel when studying highly reactive organometallic compounds. A quantity of material suitable for mass spectrometric analysis often represents a tiny grain or a very dilute solution, and both are highly susceptible to decomposition due to ambient oxygen or moisture. This complexity can be frustrating to chemists and analysts alike: the former being unable to get spec-
It serves as a practical guide for the mass spectrometric analysis of reactive organometallic compounds, including air and moisture sensitive compounds. Although this Special Feature is focused exclusively on organometallic compounds, the approaches described here are more generally applicable to reactive compounds of any type. McIndoe and colleagues include numerous practical examples in their review, and they discuss mass spectrometric approaches applicable to a range of sample states (i.e., gas, liquid and solid samples), a range of sample introduction methods and various ionization techniques.
Reduction of red bis (cyclopentadienyl)titanium (IV) dichloride (Cp 2 TiCl 2 ) with manganese dust in dry THF produces a green solution that turns deep blue upon the addition of traces of water. Mass spectrometric analysis and DFT calculations have been performed to achieve a better understanding of the species that may be present after the interaction of water with reduced Cp 2 TiCl 2 . The deep blue solution provides a handy visual indicator for the qualitative determination of water in THF.
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