The field of gas phase inorganic ion chemistry is relatively new; the
early studies date back approximately twenty years, but there has been
intense interest and development in the field in the last ten years. As
with much of modern chemistry, the growth in gas phase inorganic ion
chemistry can be traced to the development of instrumentation and new
experimental methods. Studies in this area require sophisticated
instruments and sample introduc- tion/ ionization methods, and often
these processes are complicated by the need for state-selecting (or
collisionally stabilizing) the reactive species in order to assign the
chemistry unequivocally. At the present level of experimental
development, a wide range of experiments on diverse ionic systems are
possible and many detailed aspects of the chemistry can be studied. Gas
Phase Inorganic Chemistry focuses on the reactions of metal ions and
metal clusters, and on the study of these species using the available
modern spectroscopic methods. Three of the twelve chapters cover the
chemistry of ionic monometal transition metal ions and the chemistry of
these species with small diatomics and model organics. Two of the
chapters focus on the studies of the chemical and physical properties of
(primarily) transition metal clusters, and these chapters review
experimental methods and capabilities. Two chapters also deal with the
chemistry of transition metal carbonyl clusters, and these chapters
address issues important to cluster growth and activation as well as the
characterization of such species.
