Experimental and theoretical studies of laser-generated sulfur polycarbon hydride ions: Collision-induced dissociation and ab Initio calculations

Both sulfur polycarbon hydride cations and anions were generated by laser ablating the mixture of carbon and sulfur powders and were further investigated experimentally and theoretically by means of collision-induced dissociation and ab initio calculations respectively. The computation results agree very well with the mass spectrometric results in the stability and connectivity of these species. Both experimental and theoretical results illustrate that the connectivity of the cluster ions is H-C-⋯-C-S, their stability alternates with the number of the clustering carbon atoms, and C-S is the weakest bond in all species. The results also reveal the opposite parity of the alternation effect between the positive and negative cluster ions: HC_nS⁺ with odd n is more stable, while HC_nS^- with even n is more stable.