Issue 44, 2020

Identifying reactive intermediates by mass spectrometry

Abstract

Development of new reactions requires finding and understanding of novel reaction pathways. In challenging reactions such as C–H activations, these pathways often involve highly reactive intermediates which are the key to our understanding, but difficult to study. Mass spectrometry has a unique sensitivity for detecting low abundant charged species; therefore it is increasingly used for detection of such intermediates in metal catalysed- and organometallic reactions. This perspective shows recent developments in the field of mass spectrometric research of reaction mechanisms with a special focus on going beyond mass-detection. Chapters discuss the advantages of collision-induced dissociation, ion mobility and ion spectroscopy for characterization of structures of the detected intermediates. In addition, we discuss the relationship between the condensed phase chemistry and mass spectrometric detection of species from solution.

Graphical abstract: Identifying reactive intermediates by mass spectrometry

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
29 Aug 2020
Accepted
19 Oct 2020
First published
20 Oct 2020
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 11960-11972

Identifying reactive intermediates by mass spectrometry

J. Mehara and J. Roithová, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 11960 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC04754F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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