Gas-phase lanthanide chloride clusters: relationships among ESI abundances and DFT structures and energetics

Anionic lanthanide chloride clusters, Ln(n)Cl(3n+1)(-), were produced by electrospray ionization (ESI) of LnCl(3) in isopropanol, where Ln = La-Lu (except Pm); the clusters were characterized using a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. High-abundance "magic number" clusters were apparent at n = 4 for the early Ln (La-Sm), and at n = 5 for the late Ln (Dy-Lu). Density functional theory computations of La(n)Cl(3n+1)(-) and Lu(n)Cl(3n+1)(-) clusters (n = 1-6) indicate that the clusters with n = 4-6 are rings with a central chlorine atom. Computed structures show six-coordinate Ln in distorted octahedral sites in "magic number" La(4)Cl(13)(-) and Lu(5)Cl(16)(-), which have particularly large dissociation energies. For lanthanum, larger anionic chloride clusters with multiple charges of down to -5 were observed; their fragmentation by collision-induced dissociation in the ion trap revealed La(4)Cl(13)(-) as a common product. Gas-phase hydrolysis to Ln(n)Cl(3n+1-y)(OH)(y)(-) (y = 1, 2) was prevalent for the late lanthanides, but only for small clusters, n = 2 or 3; larger clusters were evidently resistant to gas-phase hydrolysis. ESI of selected LnBr(3) and LnI(3) resulted in Ln(n)X(3n+1)(-) clusters (X = Br, I)--in contrast to Ln(n)Cl(3n+1)(-) clusters, the only observed (minor) high-abundance clusters were La(4)Br(13)(-) and Ce(4)Br(13)(-).