Fragmentation of Fe(CO)5ROH (R  CH3 and C2H5) heteroclusters induced by 248 nm multiphoton ionization

The ionic fragmentation of Fe(CO)5 within an environment of methanol or ethanol clusters was studied. Reflectron—time-of-flight mass spectrometry was employed to analyze the mixed cluster ions generated by 248 nm multiphoton ionization of [Fe(CO)5][ROH]n = 1 – 20 clusters (R  CH3 or C2H5). The fragmentation patterns were found to be quite different from those observed in the gas and condensed phases. A mechanism for the fragmentation of alcohol cluster solvated metal carbonyls is proposed, which is consistent with previous studies in this area.