Organozinc compounds mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry of organozinc compounds TABLE 1. Isotopic composition of natural zinc ... 

Dimethylzinc was the first organozinc compound to be studied by mass spectrometry (MS), as part of early MS studies performed by Aston aiming to examine natural abundances of Zn isotopes. Soon thereafter, Bainbridge showed that Aston s data were imprecise because the formation of hydride ions [ZnH]+ was overlooked, and therefore their contribution to the measured abundances of Zn isotopes was not taken into consideration. In the years that followed, numerous studies addressed the subject of Zn isotopic abundances In 2001, the data presented in Table 1 were accepted as the most accurate. It was by mass spectrometry that this best measurement from a single terrestrial source was obtained. 

The progress of the mass spectrometry of organozinc compounds has paralleled the development of new MS techniques. The first complexes studied by MS should have been volatile. However, the development of ionization methods such as fast atom bombardment, electrospray ionization and laser ionization has allowed the analysis of non-volatile, high molecular weight and ionic complexes. The evolution of methods of studying unimolecular... 

This review intends to summarize the data available on the mass spectrometry of organozinc compounds. Analytical applications of MS to the characterization of compounds having a Zn—C bond will be the major focus of the present work. Physico-chemical parameters of organozinc derivatives will also be reported, along with gas phase reactions resulting in the dissociation or formation of zinc-carbon bond(s). 

III. MASS SPECTROMETRY OF ORGANOZINC COMPOUNDS A. DIalkylzInc and DIhaloalkylzinc Compounds... 

Mass spectrometry has found various applications in the chemistry of zinc-carbon bonds. The availability of a variety of ionization techniques has made possible the identification of different types of organozinc compounds—volatile, neutral, ionic, dimeric, polymetallic, solvent-containing etc. In the majority of the reported cases, molecular species have been observed. The experimental results demonstrated that Zn—C bonds are rather weak and easily cleaved upon or after ionization. It is obvious, however, that expanding mass spectrometry-based methods of analysis of zinc complexes will greatly benefit this field of chemistry, as well as facilitate applications of organozinc compounds to material sciences. 

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