GAS-PHASE PROTONATION OF SIMPLE INORGANIC MOLECULES - A STIMULATING INTERPLAY BETWEEN THEORY AND EXPERIMENT

A brief account of some of the results obtained recently during the in vestigation of the gas-phase protonation of some simple inorganic mole cules. The combined use of structurally diagnostic mass spectrometric techniques, such as mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy (MIKE) and collis ionally activated dissociation (CAD) spectrometry and ab initio calcul ations allows the successful probe of the corresponding potential ener gy surfaces. Information is obtained on the structure and the stabilit y of the various protonated intermediates, as well as on the details o f the mechanisms of their interconversion and unimolecular decompositi on processes.