The
ionization of tartaric acid (TA) in an atmospheric pressure
chemical ionization corona discharge ion source was studied by ion
mobility spectrometry (IMS) with zero air as the drift gas. Density
functional theory was used for structural and thermodynamic analyses
of the produced ionic clusters. Ion mobility spectra of TA were recorded
in both positive and negative modes of CD with and without ammonia
and chloroform as dopants in order to produce NH4
+ and Cl–, respectively, as the reactant ions (RIs).
In the absence of these dopants, the RIs were mainly H3O+ and O2
– in the positive
and negative CD, respectively. TA solutions in water and methanol
were injected into the ionization region of the IMS instrument, and
the product cations TA·H+(H2O)
n
, TA·H+(CH3OH), TA·NH4
+, and TA·NH4
+(CH3OH) were observed in the positive CD. Anionic clusters (TA-H)−, (TA-H)−·CH3OH,
(TA-H)−·TA, TA·Cl–,
and (TA)2Cl– were produced in the negative
CD. The anions TA·Cl– and (TA)2Cl– were not produced in an air atmosphere, and we observed
their peaks when pure oxygen was used as the drift gas. Optimized
structures of the clusters showed that TA·NH4
+, TA·Cl–, and (TA)2Cl– are small host–guest systems in the gas phase,
with TA as a host. (TA)2Cl– is a weakly
bonded complex (an anion-bound dimer) that was observed at atmospheric
pressure. The proton-bound dimer TA·H+·TA was
not produced in the positive CD, while the anionic dimer (TA-H)−·TA was observed in the negative CD. This phenomenon
was interpreted on the basis of the hydration of TA·H+ and (TA-H)−.