Investigation of ruthenium (II) and iron (II) tris‐bipyridyl complexes by means of 10–30 keV Cs+ ion bombardment and collision‐induced dissociation

[Ru(bpy)3(X)2] and [Fe(bpy)3(X)2] complex salts (bpy=2,2′bipyridine; X = ClO 4−, PF 6−, Cl−) were investigated by means of Cs+ fast‐ion bombardment and mass‐selected collision‐induced dissociation (CID). A number of dissociation channels which can be attributed to the loss of intact counterions, bpy neutral ligands and to the insertion of formal O 2−, fluoride or chloride from the counterions ClO 4−, PF 6−, Cl− are evident in both the fast‐ion bombardment and CID spectra. Formation of doubly charged intact cations is also observed for all the compounds investigated. The relative intensities of the major desorbed ions are monitored as a function of the Cs+ kinetic energy in the range 10–30 keV. Copyright © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.