Ionization methods for the mass spectrometry of organometallic compounds

Abstract

The rapid development of new ionization methods has greatly expanded the ability of mass spectrometry to target diverse areas of chemistry. Synthetic organometallic and inorganic chemists often find themselves with interesting characterization problems that mass spectrometry could potentially find the answer for, but without a guide for choosing the appropriate method of analysis. This tutorial review seeks to provide that guidance via a simple flow chart followed by a brief description of how each common ionization method works. It covers all of the commonly used ionization techniques as well as promising variants and aims to be a resource of first resort for organometallic chemists and analysts tackling a new problem.

A mechanistic investigation of the Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling betweenN-tosylhydrazones and aryl halides

“…3 Soft atmospheric pressure ionization techniques generally do not cause fragmentation and are commonly used for weakly-bound analytes, such as cell extracts 4 and metal complexes. 5,6 Two of these soft ionization methods, electrospray ionization (ESI) and Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) provided the ability to probe biomolecules, and were eventually awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in chemistry.…”

Assigning the ESI mass spectra of organometallic and coordination compounds

“…Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) is a valuable tool for the identification of organometallic and coordination complexes in solution and in complex reaction mixtures, but analyzing the resulting ESI mass spectra can sometimes be a daunting task. In proteomics or metabolomics, spectral libraries are used to assign observed peaks but for organometallic and coordination complexes no such comprehensive database exists.…”

2-Cyano-3-(2-thienyl)acrylic Acid as a New MALDI Matrix for the Analysis of a Broad Spectrum of Analytes

“…In this case, by changing the oxidation degree of rhodium may accommodate additional carboxylate anions to form higher co-ordination complexes. Such an oxidation or reduction was already described in literature in the case of transition-metal complexs. − …”