HYDROGENATION OF CARBON-CLUSTER CATIONS WITH MOLECULAR-HYDROGEN - IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GROWTH OF CARBON-CLUSTER MOLECULES

Experimental results are reviewed for the hydrogenation and deuteration of carbon-cluster cations in the gas phase. Emphasis is given to reactivity measurements performed with Fourier transform ion-cyclotron resonance (FTICR) spectrometry for large cluster ions derived from graphite and diamond by laser vaporization, and reactivity measurements performed with selected-ion flow tube (SIFT) mass spectrometry for small cluster ions derived from benzene by electron impact. New SIFT measurements are presented for reactivities of small cluster ions primarily produced from acyclic hydrocarbon molecules by electron impact. Attention is given to the insight provided by these reactivity measurements into the influence of the morphology of carbon-cluster cations on the efficiency of their hydrogenation and deuteration and on the growth of carbon-cluster molecules as it is perceived to occur in interstellar chemistry.