Themed collection Advances in ion spectroscopy - from astrophysics to biology

Because the Introductory Lecture of this Faraday Discussion emphasized the recent history and exciting developments in the fields of experimental methods and applications of gaseous ion spectroscopy, these Concluding Remarks are, by design, directed somewhat more toward the roles played by theory.

The FELion beamline – a cryogenic 22-pole trap for vibrational spectroscopy of molecular ions at the FELIX Laboratory.

This introduction provides a historical context for the development of ion spectroscopy over the past half century by following the evolution of experimental methods to the present state-of-the-art.

New insights into the dissociative photodetachment and the charge-symmetric three-body photodissociation of I₃⁻ are provided by photoelectron-photofragment coincidence spectroscopy.

Synchrotron based mass spectrometry coupled with theoretical calculations provides insight into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon water interactions.

We have analyzed the binding motifs of water bound to a prototypical cluster containing three ammonium cations and two bisulfate anions using mass-selective vibrational spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations.

We present studies on the thermalisation of H₃⁺ ions in a cold He/Ar/H₂ plasma at temperatures 30–70 K.

Tandem IMS-laser-IMS is used to probe the intrinsic electronic absorptions of deprotonated substituted naphthalene anions.

Graph theory based vibrational modes as new entities for vibrational THz spectroscopy.

The interplay between intramolecular and formed inter-sheet hydrogen bonds and the effect of dispersion interactions on the formation of peptide dimers is studied using IR-UV action spectroscopy.

Cryogenic ion spectroscopy of metal–lumiflavin (M⁺LF) complexes at the level of vibrational resolution illustrates the large impact of alkali ions on the optical properties of this prototypical flavin molecule.

We explore the capability of SLIM-based IMS for isomer selectivity in combination with cryogenic, messenger-tagging IR spectroscopy.

Internal level structures of temporary anion states (resonances) are probed using action spectroscopy obtained from photoelectron imaging of CuF₂⁻.

We have measured the electronic spectra of corannulene cations decorated with He.

We address whether action spectroscopy could be used to investigate structural changes in gas-phase biomolecule (e.g. nucleic acid) ions, owing to changes in the environments of their chromophores, while taking advantage of the additional spectrometric separation of complex mixtures.

Protonation isomers of gas-phase nicotineH⁺ are separated and assigned using a combination of FAIMS and UV photodissociation action spectroscopy.

Exploring models of reactions of N₂O₄ with ions in water in order to provide molecular-level understanding of these processes.

Combining He-tagging in a cryotrap with a supercontinuum laser is an efficient way of identifying candidates for DIBs carriers.

We present theoretical and experimental progress towards a new approach for the precision spectroscopy, coherent manipulation and state-to-state chemistry of single isolated molecular ions in the gas phase.

The molecular structures of six open-shell z₃-ions resulting from electron transfer dissociation mass spectrometry (ETD MS) were investigated using infrared ion spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory and molecular mechanics/molecular dynamics calculations.

The absorption spectra and photochemistry of [Mg(H₂O)_n]⁺, n = 20–70, resemble those of the hydrated electron (H₂O)_n⁻.

Noradrenaline favors an extended conformation when coordinating to Li⁺ when compared to Na⁺, which may explain the tranquilizing effect of Li⁺.

Orbitals associated with the non-valence correlation-bound anions of the C₆₀ dimer and linear trimer from calculations allowing charge transfer.

High-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy of cryogenically-cooled aluminum oxide anions shows new subtleties in the vibronic structure of Al₂O₂^−/0 and Al₃O₃^−/0.

Electronic structure calculations for C₂, C₂⁻, and C₂²⁻ using the CC/EOM-CC family of methods. Results illustrate that EOM-CCSD provides an attractive alternative to MR approaches.

A systematic photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical study of divalent transition metal EDTA complexes illustrating the intrinsic correlations of redox properties in the gas and solution phases.

The intrinsic absorption profile and radiative cooling rate of coronene cations are reported.