Molecular self-assembly controlled by acid–base non-covalent interactions: a mass spectrometric study of some organic acids and bases

Abstract

Molecular clusters generated from vacuum adiabatic expansion of liquid droplets including acid and base molecules provide an insight into molecular self-assembly through non-covalent interactions. The mass spectrometric analysis for the resulting clusters indicates a systematic structure change which is dependent on the acid–base interaction: a multilayer stacking structure for relatively strong acid–base pairs (phenol–pyridine, phenol–N,N-dimethylaniline, etc.), and a monolayer structure for relatively weak acid–base pairs (phenol–pyrazine, cyclohexanol–pyridine, etc.). As another viewpoint, mass spectrometry of the molecular clusters composed of acid and base molecules can be presented as a new method to characterise the acid–base interaction.