Fingerprinting: The IR spectrum of protonated naphthalene, the smallest member of the class of protonated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), has identified the Cα atom as the preferred protonation site of the isolated molecule (see the figure; IRMPD: infrared multiple‐photon dissociation). Significant deviations from the corresponding IR spectrum of protonated benzene demonstrate the large impact of additional aromatic rings on the IR fingerprint of protonated PAHs.

Hexaferrocenylbenzene has been synthesized by six-fold Negishi type ferrocenylation of hexabromo- or hexaiodobenzene.

We present here the design of a new tandem mass spectrometer that combines an electrospray ion source with a cryogenically cooled ion trap for spectroscopic studies of cold, gas-phase ions. The ability to generate large ions in the gas phase without fragmentation, cool them to approximately 10 K in an ion trap, and perform photofragment spectroscopy opens up new possibilities for spectroscopic characterization of large biomolecular ions. The incorporation of an ion funnel, together with a number of small enhancements, significantly improves the sensitivity, signal stability, and ease of use compared with the previous instrument built in our laboratory.

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Watching lead flow at the nanoscale Microfluidic devices have recently become useful in commercial chemical synthesis. But what about fluid dynamics at the nanometer scale? Lorenz and Zewail used an electron microscope with nanosecond time resolution to capture images of molten lead flowing through a nanotube. They flash-melted the metal with a laser pulse to begin their flow measurements at a precise time point. The experiments offered insights into viscous friction as well as heat-transfer dynamics in a channel one-thousandth as wide as a strand of hair. Science , this issue p. 1496