The project, in the general area of Analytical and Surface Chemistry, focuses on mass spectrometry. The principal emphasis will be on ion chemistry. The work promises to lead to new instrumental features which will advance the analytical application of mass spectrometry and also provide a better understanding of ion chemistry. The work will focus on four areas related to charge-remote fragmentation in mass spectrometry, namely energetics, mechanism, extension to new types of reactions, and identification of neutrals produced in charge-remote chemistry. Ion chemistry studies will include radical cation chemistry, the study of ionization potentials of small inorganic ions, and aldol-type reactions of negative ions. Some aspects of instrumental development will be examined that relate to ion chemistry. In particular, work will be carried out on Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) ion traps.
