The gas-phase ligand exchange reactions of cobalt and zinc acetylacetonate, hexafluoroacetylacetonate, and trifluorotrimethylacetylacetonate complexes.

The gas-phase ligand exchange reactions between Co(II) and Zn(II) complexes containing the acetylacetonate (acac), hexafluoroacetylacetonate (hfac), and trifluorotrimethylacetylacetonate (tftm) ligands were investigated using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The gas-phase mixed ligand products of [Cu(acac)(tftm)](+), [Ni(acac)(tftm)](+), [Cu(hfac)(tftm)](+), and [Ni(hfac)(tftm)](+) were formed following the co-sublimation of either homo-metal or hetero-metal precursors and are reported herein for the first time. The fragmentation patterns of these mixed ligand species along with those of Cu(tftm)(2) and Ni(tftm)(2) are also presented. The collision cell of the instrument was utilized to examine the gas-phase reactions between mass-selected ions and specific neutral target compounds.