Molecular weight determination of ferrocenyl‐aryl‐plumbanes by 252 Cf plasma‐desorption combined with a linear and reflecting time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer

A study of the analytical potential of 252 Cf plasma‐desorption mass spectrometry for the melecular weight determination of metallocene complexes isreported. Two ferrocenyl‐phenyl‐plumbanes were successfully analysed in the positive‐ as well as the negative‐ion mode using this method. The positive‐ion mass spectra in particular provided molecular weight information and gave structurally informative fragment ions of this organometallic material. Salinples were deposited by the classical electrospray technique on aluminized targets. The molecular‐ion regions were recorded both on a liner and a reflecting time‐of‐flight instrument. The isotopic pattern of the molecular ions obtained by the reflecting mass spectrometer was compared with the theoretically calculated values and showed excellent agreement.