Hydrogen fluoride (HF) was produced by a homemade HF generator in order to investigate the properties of strong hydrogen-bonded clusters such as (HF) n . The HF molecules were ionized in the form of complex ions associated with the negative core ions Y- produced by atmospheric pressure corona discharge ionization (APCDI). The use of APCDI in combination with the homemade HF generator led to the formation of negative-ion HF clusters Y-(HF) n (Y=F, O2), where larger clusters with n≥4 were not detected. The mechanisms for the formation of the HF, F-(HF) n , and O2-(HF) n species were discussed from the standpoints of the HF generator and APCDI MS. By performing energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments on the cluster ions F-(HF) n (n=1-3), the energies for the loss of HF from F-(HF)3, F-(HF)2, and F-(HF) were evaluated to be 1 eV or lower, 1 eV or higher, and 2 eV, respectively, on the basis of their center-of-mass energy (ECM). These ECM values were consistent with the values of 0.995, 1.308, and 2.048 eV, respectively, obtained by ab initio calculations. The stability of [O2(HF) n ]- (n=1-4) was discussed on the basis of the bond lengths of O2H-F-(HF) n and O2-H-F(HF) n obtained by ab initio calculations. The calculations indicated that [O2(HF)4]- separated into O2H and F-(HF)3.
Keywords: collision-induced dissociation; hydrogen atom; hydrogen fluoride; hydrogen-bonded cluster.