Laser ablation-molecular beam method: a simple and versatile diagnosis to study chemistry of monopositive metal ions in the gas phase

Chemistry of monopositive metal ions in the gas phase has been studied with the laser ablation-molecular beam (LAMB) method developed by the authorsʹ group. In this method, monopositive metal ions (M+ʹs) are prepared in the gas phase by laser ablation of metal substrates in vacuum and they are allowed to react with molecules or clusters in a molecular beam injected nearby. The product ions are probed by a quadrupole mass spectrometry. This method has been probed to be a very simple and versatile diagnosis for the study of coordination (solvation) chemistry and organometallic chemistry of monopositive metal ions in the gas phase. Very interesting aspects of competitive coordination (solvation) have been revealed using ammonia-acetone binary clusters in the molecular beam, and they have been studied in comparison with ammonia-water, ammonia-methanol and methanol-water systems previously reported.