Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Photoelectron Imaging of Anions Illustrated by 310 Nm Detachment of F−
Published on: July 27, 2018
Chemical reactions of anions in the gas phase
Abstract:
Anions of many types, both organic and inorganic, farmiliar and exotic, can be generated in the gas phase by rational chemical synthesis in a flowing afterglow apparatus. Once formed, the rates, products, and mechanisms of their reactions with neutral species of all kinds can be studied, not only at room temperature but at higher energies in a drift field. These completely unsolvated ions undergo a large number of reactions that are analogous to those they undergo in solution, as well as some that are less familiar. New types of ions, for which there are no counterparts in solution, can be produced and their chemical reactions explored.
Related Concept Videos
Acids, Bases and Neutralization Reactions
Acids, Bases and Neutralization Reactions
Reactions of Acid Anhydrides
Chemical Reactions in Aqueous Solutions
Ions as Acids and Bases
Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions, either of which may be capable of undergoing an acid or base ionization reaction with water. Aqueous salt solutions, therefore, may be acidic, basic, or neutral, depending on the relative acid-base strengths of the salt’s constituent ions. For example, dissolving the ammonium chloride in water results in its dissociation, as described by the equation:
Chemical Ionization (CI) Mass Spectrometry

