Gas-phase basicity of formaldehyde by the thermokinetic method

Abstract : A series of proton transfer reactions monitored in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer allows the determination of the gas-phase basicity (GB) and the proton affinity (PA) of formaldehyde. The values determined by the thermokinetic method, GB(CH2O) = 681.5 ± 0.7 kJ mol-1 and PA(CH2O) = 711.5 ± 2.1 kJ mol-1 are in excellent agreement with data originating from proton transfer equilibrium constant determinations or from G2 calculations.