Ion-neutral gas reactions in a collision/reaction cell in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: Correlation of ion signal decrease to kinetic rate constants

Reaction gas flow rate dependent Ar2+ and Ar+ signals are correlated to fundamental kinetic rate coefficients. A simple calculation, assuming that gas exits the reaction cell due only to effusion, is described to estimate the gas pressure in the reaction cell. The value of the product of the kinetic rate constant and the ion residence time in the reaction cell can be determined from experimental measurement of the decrease in an ion signal as a function of reaction gas flow rate. New kinetic rate constants are determined for the reaction of CH3F with Ar+ and Ar2+.