This grant is in the area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfield of mass spectrometric studies of gas-phase metal ion cluster chemistry. Professor Freiser and his students will use a supersonic source to generate metal ion clusters containing multiple metal atoms. The source will be used in conjunction with Fourier transform mass spectrometry and laser photochemical techniques to investigate gas-phase ion-molecule chemistry. The use of supersonic sources to synthesize ions is a powerful new concept that could lead to significant advances in mass spectrometry. %%% Professor Freiser will use a supersonic source for a Fourier transform mass spectrometer to create and study gas-phase metal ion clusters containing three or more metal atoms. This technique combined with laser photochemistry will be used to study the gas-phase chemistry of these novel cluster compounds. The results will impact directly on the development of improved mass spectrometric instrumentation such as tandem mass spectrometers.
