Gas-phase fluorescence excitation and emission spectroscopy of mass-selected trapped molecular ions

A flexible interface to perform optical spectroscopic measurements on gaseous ions stored in a modified commercial quadrupole ion trap (QIT) mass spectrometer is described. The modifications made to the mass spectrometer did not adversely affect its operating characteristics. Gas-phase ions are produced using electrospray ionization, mass isolated and stored in the trapping mass spectrometer. The ions are subsequently irradiated with visible light from a tunable laser and dispersed fluorescence spectra are recorded simultaneously. Mass spectra are recorded after the irradiation period. This set-up allows us to track a range of possible outcomes upon photoexcitation of selected ions including fluorescence, photofragmentation and photodetachment of electrons. The experimental set-up is characterized using rhodamine 590, which is a methyl ester variant of rhodamine 6G. Fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of gaseous rhodamine 590 are measured and compared with solution-phase spectra. Excitation and emission maxima for the gaseous ions are found to lie at higher energy than for the solvated rhodamine 590. In addition, the gas-phase Stokes shift is significantly smaller than the solution-phase Stokes shift. The effects of several experimental parameters on the observed fluorescence signal are investigated, including laser power, relative number of ions, qz trapping parameter and buffer gas pressure. In addition to its use for the photophysical characterization of the intrinsic properties of ionic chromophores, this set-up may be used to investigate the properties of mass-selected, dye-labeled biomolecules, both alone and in well-defined complexes and clusters.