PARTICLE-BEAM LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY BEHAVIOR OF POLYNUCLEAR METAL-CARBONYL COMPOUNDS

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-mass spectrometry (MS) was applied to organotransition-metal chemistry with the aim of studying the relationship between chromatographic behaviour and structural features of polynuclear organometallic compounds and of developing the methodological aspects of application of the combined technique in this field. In order to obtain significant structural information about organometallic compounds separated by HPLC, a particle beam LC-MS interface was used. As a first approach, some alkyne-carbonyl ruthenium derivatives and cyclopentadienyl nickel-ruthenium and nickel-osmium carbonyl clusters were considered; all these compounds are of relevant interest in the field of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. The separation of all the examined clusters was performed under reversed-phase conditions with non-aqueous mobile phases. Full-scan electron impact and chemical ionization mass spectra were obtained from the LC eluates.