Reactions of Ti + with methanol and acetonitrile clusters. Efficient dehydration of methanol dimer by TiO +

Abstract

A striking difference in the clustering and reaction efficiencies of Ti + with methanol and acetonitrile has been observed following the reactions of laser-generated Ti + with preformed clusters of methanol and acetonitrile. Evidence for a catalytic conversion of methanol dimer into dimethyl ether by TiO + is presented. The resulting sequence TiO +(CH 3OCH 3)(CH 3OH) n shows enhanced ion intensity at n=4 suggesting the formation of a stable octahedral structure TiO +(CH 3OCH 3)(CH 3OH) 4. In contrast to methanol, the major reactions of Ti + with acetonitrile clusters involve simple clustering producing Ti +(CH 3CN) n . The difference in reactivity is attributed to the formation of TiO + through the reactions of Ti + with methanol clusters.