Spectroscopic studies of anion complexes and clusters: a microscopic approach to understanding anion solvation

Recent infrared spectroscopic studies of negatively charged clusters in the gas phase have furnished new information on non-covalent bonds between anions and neutral molecules, and provided fresh perspectives on the microscopic details of anion solvation. We describe the central spectroscopic techniques employed for obtaining infrared spectra of mass-selected solvated anions in the gas phase, and illustrate recent progress by describing studies of simple halide-H2 dimers, and larger clusters in which up to 9 C2H2 molecules are attached to a Cl- anion.