Sulfur hexafluoride corona discharge decomposition: gas-phase ion chemistry of SOFx+ (x=1–3) ions

The structure and reactivity of gaseous SOFx+ (x=1–3) cations obtained by SF6 corona discharge were studied by joint application of mass spectrometric techniques and computational methods. Consistent with theoretical calculations at the B3LYP and CCSD(T) level of theory, the structurally diagnostic collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) mass spectrometric results show that the SOFx+ ions are characterized by the Fx–SO connectivity in which the fluorine atoms are bonded to the sulfur. The reactivity of these ionic species with selected compounds was also investigated. The SOF2+ ion behaves in the gas phase as a SOF+ donor, whereas the SOF3+ and SOF+ ions are practically inert towards the molecules used.