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Updated: May 17, 2026

A Study of the Complexation of Mercury(II) with Dicysteinyl Tetrapeptides by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry
Published on: January 8, 2016
A quantitative approach of the interaction between metal triflates and organic ligands using electrospray mass
Jean-François Gal1, Claudio Iacobucci, Ilaria Monfardini
1Institut de Chimie de Nice, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS-UMR 7272, Parc Valrose, 06108, Nice Cedex 2, France. gal@unice.fr
Abstract:
The interaction between two Lewis "superacid" catalysts Zn(OTf)(2) and In(OTf)(3) and series of amide and phosphate ligands is quantitatively characterized by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). A specific feature of the ESI-MS spectra of the mixture of metal triflates and Lewis bases is the formation of ionic adducts resulting from the displacement of one triflate anion by two neutral ligands. A ligand competition model is developed, which describes the relative intensities of the ionic adducts as a function of relative ligand concentrations. The relative affinities deduced from the ligand competition method are combined in an affinity scale for the metal triflate.
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