FTMS Studies of Sputtered Metal Cluster Ions (III): The Chemistry of Ni+n, Co+n, V+n, Ag+n, Au+n and Fe+n with C2H4, C6H6 or NH3

As previously described in greater detail, diverse transition metal cluster cations are produced in an external source by sputtering with 20 keV Xenon ions and transferred to the ICR cell of a home‐built Fourier transform mass spectrometer. There, they are thermalized by collisions with Neon atoms and stored for up to tens of seconds. They undergo a variety of reactions in the presence of ethene, benzene or ammonia, displaying different size‐specific effects. Depending upon the metal and the actual cluster size, mere physical adsorption or dehydrogenation is prevailing.