Proton transfer reactions in neutral gas-phase clusters: 1-Naphthol with H 2O, D 2O, CH 3OH, NH 3 and piperidine

Abstract

The optical spectroscopic properties of 1-naphthol·B n clusters (B=H 2O, D 2O, CH 3OH, NH 3 and piperidine) have been studied in supersonic molecular beams. Proton transfer to the solvent cluster occurs at n⩾2 for B=piperidine and n⩾4 for B=NH 3, while no transfer is observed for B=CH 3OH up to n≈26, nor for H 2O or D 2O clusters up to n≈40. The occurrence and cluster size dependence of proton transfer are mainly determined by the proton affinity of B n and by the electrostatic stabilization of the microsolvated ion pairs.