Electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry of metallo-supramolecular complexes

The electron capture dissociation (ECD) of metallo-supramolecular dinuclear triple-stranded helicate Fe2L3 4 ions was determined by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Initial electron capture by the di-iron(II) triple helicate ions produces dinuclear double-stranded complexes analogous to those seen in solution with the monocationic metal centers CuI or AgI. The gas-phase fragmentation behavior [ECD, collision-induced dissociation (CID), and infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD)] of the di-iron double-stranded complexes, (i.e., MS3 of the ECD product) was compared with the ECD, CID, and IRMPD of the CuI and AgI complexes generated from solution. The results suggest that iron-bound dimers may be of the formFeI 2L2 2 and that ECD by metallo-complexes allows access, in the gas phase,to oxidation states and coordination chemistry that cannot be accessed in solution.