Theoretical and Experimental Insights into the Dissociation of 2-Hydroxyethylhydrazinium Nitrate Clusters Formed via Electrospray.

Ionic liquids are used for myriad applications, including as catalysts, solvents, and propellants. Specifically, 2-hydroxyethylhydrazinium nitrate (HEHN) has been developed as a chemical propellant for space applications. The gas-phase behavior of HEHN ions and clusters is important in understanding its potential as an electrospray thruster propellant. Here, the unimolecular dissociation pathways of two clusters are experimentally observed, and theoretical modeling of hydrogen bonding and dissociation pathways is used to help rationalize those observations. The cation/deprotonated cation cluster [HEH2 - H]+, which is observed from electrospray ionization, is calculated to be considerably more stable than the complementary cation/protonated anion adduct, [HEH + HNO3]+, which is not observed experimentally. Upon collisional activation, a larger cluster [(HEHN)2HEH]+ undergoes dissociation via loss of nitric acid at lower collision energies, as predicted theoretically. At higher collision energies, additional primary and secondary loss pathways open, including deprotonated cation loss, ion-pair loss, and double-nitric-acid loss. Taken together, these experimental and theoretical results contribute to a foundational understanding of the dissociation of protic ionic liquid clusters in the gas phase.