Understanding Nontraditional Differential Mobility Behavior: A Case Study of the Tricarbastannatrane Cation, N(CH2CH2CH2)3Sn

Jeff Crouse; Alexander Haack; Thorsten Benter; W Scott Hopkins

doi:10.1021/jasms.9b00042

Understanding Nontraditional Differential Mobility Behavior: A Case Study of the Tricarbastannatrane Cation, N(CH₂CH₂CH₂)₃Sn

J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2020 Apr 1;31(4):796-802. doi: 10.1021/jasms.9b00042. Epub 2020 Mar 12.

Authors

Jeff Crouse¹, Alexander Haack², Thorsten Benter², W Scott Hopkins¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
² Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Wuppertal, Gauss Str. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany.

PMID: 32129991
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.9b00042

Abstract

The effect of strong ion-solvent interactions on the differential mobility behavior of the tricarbastannatrane cation, N(CH₂CH₂CH₂)₃Sn⁺, has been investigated. Exotic "type D" dispersion behavior, which is intermediate to the more common types C and A behavior, is observed for gaseous N₂ environments that are seeded with acetone and acetonitrile vapor. Quantum chemical calculations and first-principles modeling show that under low-field conditions [N(CH₂CH₂CH₂)₃Sn + solvent]⁺ complexes containing a single solvent molecule survive the entire separation waveform duty cycle and interact weakly with the chemically modified environment. However, at high separation voltages, the ion-solvent bond dissociates and dynamic clustering ensues.

Keywords: DMS; collision cross section; dispersion plot; ion−solvent cluster; population distribution.