Isotope exchange in reactions between D2O and size-selected ionic water clusters containing pyridine, H+(pyridine)m(H2O)n

Pyridine containing water clusters, H+(pyridine)m(H2O)n, have been studied both experimentally by a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer and by quantum chemical calculations. In the experiments, H+(pyridine)m(H2O)n with m = 1–4 and n = 0–80 are observed. For the cluster distributions observed, there are no magic numbers, neither in the abundance spectra, nor in the evaporation spectra from size selected clusters. Experiments with size-selected clusters H+(pyridine)m(H2O)n, with m = 0–3, reacting with D2O at a center-of-mass energy of 0.1 eV were also performed. The cross-sections for H/D isotope exchange depend mainly on the number of water molecules in the cluster and not on the number of pyridine molecules. Clusters having only one pyridine molecule undergo D2O/H2O ligand exchange, while H+(pyridine)m(H2O)n, with m = 2, 3, exhibit significant H/D scrambling. These results are rationalized by quantum chemical calculations (B3LYP and MP2) for H+(pyridine)1(H2O)n and H+(pyridine)2(H2O)n, with n = 1–6. In clusters containing one pyridine, the water molecules form an interconnected network of hydrogen bonds associated with the pyridinium ionvia a single hydrogen bond. For clusters containing two pyridines, the two pyridine molecules are completely separated by the water molecules, with each pyridine being positioned diametrically opposite within the cluster. In agreement with experimental observations, these calculations suggest a “see-saw mechanism” for pendular proton transfer between the two pyridines in H+(pyridine)2(H2O)n clusters.