Abstract

A longstanding goal in the chemical analysis of reaction mechanisms is understanding the role of the solvent. We have been involved in work that addresses this issue on a single molecule basis by studying reactions in molecular clusters.¹–³ In this report we describe a means for detecting and measuring rapid intermolecular cluster chemistry using mass-selective picosecond resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). Molecular beam mass spectrometry offers a powerful means for identifying a variety of product species and distinguishing precursor cluster size. However, such investigations demand an independent means for differentiating neutral cluster reactions from ionic reactions. Our approach is to obtain direct measurements of the ion dissociation mechanisms by electron-impact (El) ionization and by mass-selective ion photodissociation.

© 1990 Optical Society of America