Deuterium substitution effects on the dehydration of Fe +(CH 3OH) n

Abstract

The intracluster dehydration reactions of Fe +(CH 3OH) n have been studied by deuterium substitution in the methanol molecules. The dehydration reaction is shown to occur when the cluster ion Fe +(methanol) n contains 12 or more methanol molecules. We suggest that the dehydration reaction starts to occur after the solvation shell is completed, similar to the reactions of alkali metal ion-methanol cluster ions and protonated methanol cluster ions. The deuterium substitution is found to affect the relative yields of the dehydration reaction products. This is attributed to the stronger hydrogen bonds after deuterium substitution in the cluster, which results in a higher reaction barrier because the dehydration reaction involves the breakage of the hydrogen bonds.