Magic Numbers for Packing Adamantane in Helium Droplets: Cluster Cations, Dications, and Trications

We report the first observation of cations, dications, and trications of large clusters of adamantane. Cluster formation was initiated near 0 K in helium droplets and ionization was achieved with one or more collisions with energetic He species (He*, He+, or He*–). The occurrence of Coulomb explosion appeared to discriminate against the formation of small multiply-charged clusters. High-resolution mass spectrometry revealed the presence of “magic number” m/z peaks that can be attributed to the packing of adamantane molecules into cluster structures of special stability involving preferred arrangements of these molecules. These abundance anomalies were seen to be independent of charge state. While some dehydrogenation of adamantane and its clusters was seen as well, no major transformations into adamantoids or microdiamonds were observed.