This project by Professor Eric Grimsrud of Montana State University is a study of the elementary steps of resonant electron capture reactions that occur in the gas phase. These reactions underlie the transduction response of electron capture detectors used in gas chromatography, ionization sources in ion mobility spectrometry, and several forms of negative ion mass spectrometry. Better understanding of these reaction steps leads to both better reproducibility of measurement, and then better quantitative measurements using transducers that involve these elementary steps. Mechanistic understanding may also lead to methods that can be used to decrease the rate of thermal detachment reactions, leading to applications of the transducers for the detections of compounds of low or moderate electron affinity.
This proposal addresses the elementary steps that affect the response of a widely-used detector in gas chromatography, and a widely used ionization source in mass spectrometry. Better understanding of those steps will lead to more precise and accurate analytical measurements, most especially in methods used in environmental analysis.
