Characterizing the electronic states of the second-row transition metal cations using high-resolution ion mobility mass spectrometry

Reduced mobilities for ground-state and electronic excited-state configurations of the second-row transition metal cations, excluding Tc+, have been measured. These values were obtained using an ion mobility mass spectrometer that utilizes a 2 m drift tube to generate high-resolution ion mobility data. Several of these atomic cations have been previously studied and the results obtained here are compared to reduced mobilities reported in the literature. In all cases, ions were generated using pulsed-laser vaporization of either a metal rod or foil target. Presented here for the first time are the reduced mobilities of Y+, Ru+, and Rh+. A discussion of the observed trends in the mobilities of the second-row transition metal series, relative to those measured for the first-row series, is also provided.