3 Mass spectrometry of free radicals: a methodological overview

Abstract

This review outlines the advances that have been made in the area of mass spectrometric investigations of gas-phase radicals, and follows the guidelines appearing in the literature from the works covering this field during the period 2000–2004. An overview is presented of some topics of contemporary gas-phase radical investigations using techniques derived from physical chemistry, mainly supersonic jet pyrolysis combined with laser-based ionization methods. Specifically considered is the ion attachment mass spectrometry method because of its incoming contribution to radical chemistry, especially in the dynamic studies of individual free radical species.