This article is part of the Focus: Gas-Phase Ion Chemistry special issue. List of contributions from the following research groups: Ryan Julian, Scott McLuckey, Kit Bowen, R. Graham Cooks, Dave Clemmer, Air Force Research Laboratory, Mathias Schaefer, Joost Bakker, Diethard Bohme, Peter Armentrout, Konrad Koszinowski, Jana Roithová, Mary Rodgers, and Richard O’Hair. It is a pleasure to introduce a special focus of the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry to celebrate the accomplishments of Prof. Peter B. Armentrout, Henry Eyring Presidential Endowed Chair of Chemistry, University of Utah, on the occasion of his receiving the 2021 ASMS John B. Fenn Award for a Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry. The award recognizes Peter’s development of (1) robust experimental and statistical techniques for the determination of accurate thermochemistry via the guided ion beam method, which has provided insights into the thermochemistry, kinetics, and dynamics of simple and complex chemical reactions, and (2) a suite of software programs for statistically modeling the energy dependence of product formation. As a consequence of these developments, nearly 2500 distinct bond energies have been measured during his career. These fundamental measurements have impact in many fields, including catalysis, biochemistry, surface chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and plasma chemistry. This issue contains a total of 14 papers around the theme of “Thermodynamics, Kinetics and Mechanisms in Gas-Phase Ion Chemistry”. We thank all of the authors and reviewers for helping this issue come to fruition. Although Peter’s achievements have been documented in other editorials (1−4) and he has written a short autobiography, (5) here we asked Peter some questions on issues that have intrigued us (note: this interview is a COVID19 “timecapsule” as it was carried out in mid-2021 during the height of lockdowns and travel bans): Question 1: Many of us were inspired to pursue science by our high school teachers. In your autobiography, (5) you mentioned that you had excellent chemistry and physics teachers at Oakwood High School, Dayton, OH. Did they help ignite a spark, or were you already doing experiments at home before then? PBA answer: You know I was never one to really do experiments at home. I had a home chemistry set (with lots of dangerous chemicals that people would be horrified to give to kids these days), but I mainly mixed them up to generate goo and never followed the recipes given. However, I was always interested in how things worked and knew I would be a scientist shortly after I gave up the prospect of being a professional pony express rider (in the fifth grade or so). Question 2: I enjoyed reading about your early research with the late Rob Dunbar (Case Western Reserve University) and with Jack Beauchamp (Caltech). (5) Since then, you have had a wonderfully productive career. What is your favorite piece of work that you have been involved in? PBA answer: It is not often you get a call out of nowhere asking if you can do an experiment, but Al Viggiano did just that several years back. Turns out the Metal Oxide Space Cloud (MOSC) group at the Air Force Research Laboratory was interested in samarium chemistry. They needed to know the bond energy of SmO⁺ with more precision and accuracy than was available in the literature. I told him we would try to measure this if they bought us the samarium sample, which turned out to cost $200. Apparently, Al went to the MOSC group and said I would do the research but it would cost 200. They hesitated until they learned he did not mean $200K. We successfully measured the SmO⁺ bond energy, (6) which enabled them to understand an ongoing atmospheric test. Subsequently, this has led to grants that enable us to continue studying the oxidation of lanthanides, including revisiting the Sm system. I’m not sure that many scientists would have thought that understanding simple gas-phase diatomic molecules better is still an important avenue for research. Question 3: What is the role of a mentor in science? Who mentored you and what has been your style of mentoring? PBA answer: The enterprise of chemistry is a complex and detailed world, with lots of places where you can go astray. The role of a mentor is to alert a student of chemistry about some of the realities of getting things done and provide guidance. My mentors were Jack Beauchamp, Rob Dunbar, and John Fackler (inorganic chemist at Case and then Texas A&M). Like them, I tell my students that they work with me, not for me. I’m largely a hands-off mentor who provides advice and direction but willingly become hands-on when the situation needs it. I try to make sure my students not only learn to take good data and analyze it but also to present it clearly in both written and oral venues. My door (these days, my email box) is always open. Question 4: What are the challenges for young scientists? PBA answer: There are so many. I’m not sure the challenges have changed over the years, but I do think they have intensified. Funding, life–work balance, just dealing with students and people, they all need work to make happen. One could imagine that finding a new scientific niche that you can be the expert in has become harder because all the “easy” targets have already been taken. This belief neglects the fact that new techniques and new technologies provide new opportunities, but that does not make them any easier to identify. When I started out, I realized that if only I could understand and control things better, then I really ought to be able to measure thresholds of reactions and learn not only some thermochemistry but also something about the dynamics and mechanisms of reactions. I identified radio frequency (rf) manipulations as a means to improve the technology considerably and that led to the very first guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer that my group built at UC Berkeley. In subsequent years, we have also thought hard about how to interpret the kinetic energy dependence of reactions that has enabled us to make a lot of progress along those lines over the years, but there is a lot we still do not know or understand as well as we might. Question 5: What is the future of peer-review publishing? How are you personally coping with the ever-increasing number of scientific articles? PBA answer: Honestly, I’m not sure I am successfully coping at all. The only saving grace is that you can almost instantaneously search the literature for relevant articles through the Internet. I still remember having to go to the library and search Chemical Abstracts in order to search the literature. An Internet search does not always find every relevant article, but it always finds more than you really want. Question 6: 2020 was a rather strange and challenging year. This is reflected in the fact that the Oxford English Dictionary was not able to decide on a single “word of the year”. What is your “word of the year” to describe 2020 and why? PBA answer: Interesting question. My short answer also involves multiple words: pandemic, virtual, remote. If I had to pick one, it would be remote. The last year has kept us apart in ways we never conceived of and yet brought us together (often using technology) in ways that have expanded the way we will go forward. It is been an interesting process but one that will hopefully provide benefits in the future. Question 7: Mary Rodgers’ recounting anticipating brutal questions from the holy trinity of gas-phase ion chemists (Jack Beauchamp, Mike Bowers, and Peter Armentrout) at the 1993 Lake Arrowhead Conference resonated with me. (2) I too was warned that you guys had exquisite “BS” detectors. Thus, it was with trepidation that when John Bowie fell ill I presented his talk at the eighth Asilomar Conference on Mass Spectrometry in 1990. (7) That was the first time that I met you, Jack, and Mike and other leading gas-phase ion chemists. I learned a lot but was also impressed by the spirit of the questions, which were aimed at getting the most out of the science. I also felt that this community was welcoming and that there was a sense of fun. Given that COVID19 has curtailed travel and many conferences have been canceled or rescheduled, what are your thoughts about the future of conferences? Are face-to-face conferences still important? PBA answer: The triumvirate did indeed have a well-deserved reputation, but you are spot on with regard to the intent of those questions. I’ve been to a few virtual conferences in the past year. They accomplish a fair bit of what is needed to communicate science to your peers. They reduce our carbon footprint and can enable many more people to attend than might otherwise be able to afford it. However, the personal interactions, the bump-into-you-in-the-hall moments, the scribbles on a napkin, are missing from virtual conferences. The ability to share a drink and dine with friends and speculate together provides real opportunities to advance science. The time away from your routine at home can be mind expanding. Face-to-face conferences remain relevant and needed. Question 8: If you had a time machine, which scientist(s) from history would you like to meet? What would you ask them? PBA answer: Leonardo da Vinci. I’ve always thought he was the epitome of the Renaissance man, doing both art and science that was well ahead of its time. In that regard, I think most people do not appreciate how much art and inspiration there is in doing good science. I would ask him where he derived his inspiration and why he ever thought man could fly. Question 9: Much of your work focuses on thermodynamics, with the 2013 tribute (4) mentioning over 2000 distinct bond energies measured. What is the motivation for your intense interest, perhaps even obsession, with this aspect of chemistry? PBA answer: I have always valued the quantitative aspects of chemistry. I can recall early in my graduate career an interaction with the late Ben Freiser, then also a graduate student with Jack Beauchamp, where he took one of the pieces of thermochemistry I had recently measured and proceeded to break it down a number of different ways. Thermodynamics has an eternal quality to it: a good measurement will be valuable to many future generations. Thermodynamics is predictive; it can definitively tell you whether a reaction is possible or not. A recent example is a study that generated a fair bit of interest because it claimed to observe catalytic conversion of methane to ethene on gold dimer cations at temperatures as low as 200 K. The problem is that this reaction is endothermic by over 200 kJ/mol, which means it is impossible to catalyze at thermal energies. Collaborators and I investigated a number of alternative explanations for the observations. (8) This article references 8 other publications. This article has not yet been cited by other publications. This article references 8 other publications.

中文翻译：

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对 Peter B. Armentrout 教授的赞赏和采访

本文是部分重点：气相离子化学特刊。以下研究小组的贡献列表： Ryan Julian、Scott McLuckey、Kit Bowen、R. Graham Cooks、Dave Clemmer、空军研究实验室、Mathias Schaefer、Joost Bakker、Diethard Bohme、Peter Armentrout、Konrad Koszinowski、Jana Roithová、Mary罗杰斯和理查德·奥海尔。很高兴介绍美国质谱学会杂志的一个特别关注点庆祝犹他大学亨利·艾林总统特聘化学主席 Peter B. Armentrout 教授在获得 2021 年 ASMS 约翰·B·芬恩质谱杰出贡献奖之际取得的成就。该奖项旨在表彰 Peter 在 (1) 用于通过引导离子束方法确定准确热化学的稳健实验和统计技术的发展，该技术为简单和复杂化学反应的热化学、动力学和动力学提供了见解，以及 (2)一套软件程序，用于对产品形成的能量依赖性进行统计建模。由于这些发展，在他的职业生涯中测量了近 2500 种不同的键能。这些基本测量对许多领域都有影响，包括催化、生物化学、表面化学、有机金属化学和等离子体化学。本期共收录14篇论文“气相离子化学中的热力学、动力学和机理”。我们感谢所有作者和审稿人帮助这个问题取得成果。尽管彼得的成就已在其他社论 (1−4) 中有所记载，并且他写了一本简短的自传，但 (5) 在这里，我们向彼得询问了一些引起我们兴趣的问题（注意：本次采访是 COVID19 的“时间胶囊”，因为它是在 2021 年年中封锁和旅行禁令最严重的时候进行的）：问题 1：我们中的许多人受到高中老师的启发，开始追求科学。在你的自传中，（5）你提到你在俄亥俄州代顿的奥克伍德高中有优秀的化学和物理老师。他们是否帮助点燃了火花，或者在那之前你已经在家里做实验了？PBA 答案：你知道我从来都不是真正在家做实验的人。我有一套家庭化学用品（有很多危险的化学物质，这些天人们会害怕给孩子们吃），但我主要把它们混合起来产生粘稠物，从不遵循给定的食谱。然而，我一直对事物的运作方式很感兴趣，并且在我放弃成为专业小马特快骑手（五年级左右）的前景后不久，我就知道我会成为一名科学家。问题 2：我很高兴阅读您与已故的 Rob Dunbar（凯斯西储大学）和 Jack Beauchamp（加州理工学院）的早期研究。(5) 从那时起，你的职业生涯非常富有成效。你参与过的最喜欢的工作是什么？PBA 答案：你不会经常突然接到一个电话，询问你是否可以做一个实验，但几年前 Al Viggiano 就做到了。原来，空军研究实验室的金属氧化物空间云（MOSC）小组对钐化学很感兴趣。他们需要比文献中更精确和准确地了解 SmO ^{+的键能。}我告诉他，如果他们给我们买了钐样品，我们会尝试测量这个，结果结果是 200 美元。显然，Al 去了 MOSC 小组，说我会做这项研究，但要花 200 美元。他们犹豫了，直到他们知道他的意思不是 20 万美元。我们成功测量了 SmO ⁺键能，（6）这使他们能够了解正在进行的大气测试。随后，这导致了资助，使我们能够继续研究镧系元素的氧化，包括重新审视 Sm 系统。我不确定许多科学家是否会认为更好地理解简单的气相双原子分子仍然是研究的重要途径。问题 3：导师在科学中的作用是什么？谁指导了你，你的指导方式是什么？PBA 答案：化学事业是一个复杂而细致的世界，有很多地方可以让你误入歧途。导师的作用是提醒化学专业的学生注意完成工作的一些现实情况并提供指导。我的导师是 Jack Beauchamp、Rob Dunbar 和 John Fackler（在 Case 和 Texas A&M 的无机化学家）。像他们一样，我告诉我的学生，他们和我一起工作，而不是为我工作。我在很大程度上是一个不干涉的导师，提供建议和指导，但在情况需要时愿意亲自动手。我试图确保我的学生不仅学会获取和分析好的数据，而且还要在书面和口头场合清楚地展示它。我的门（这些天，我的邮箱）总是开着的。问题 4：青年科学家面临的挑战是什么？PBA 答案：有这么多。我不确定这些年来挑战是否发生了变化，但我确实认为它们已经加剧了。资金，生活与工作的平衡，只是与学生和人打交道，他们都需要努力才能实现。可以想象，找到一个你可以成为专家的新科学领域变得更加困难，因为所有“简单”的目标都已经完成。这种信念忽略了新技术和新技术提供了新机会的事实，但这并没有使它们更容易识别。刚开始的时候，我意识到，如果我能更好地理解和控制事物，那么我真的应该能够测量反应的阈值，不仅可以学习一些热化学，还可以了解反应的动力学和机制。我将射频 (rf) 操作确定为显着改进技术的一种手段，这导致了我的团队在加州大学伯克利分校建造的第一台引导离子束串联质谱仪。在随后的几年中，我们也努力思考如何解释反应的动能依赖性，这使我们多年来在这些方面取得了很大进展，但还有很多我们不知道或不了解的地方我们可能会。问题 5：同行评审出版的未来是什么？您个人如何应对不断增加的科学文章？PBA 回答：老实说，我不确定我是否能成功应对。唯一的可取之处是您几乎可以立即通过 Internet 搜索相关文章的文献。我仍然记得必须去图书馆搜索化学文摘才能搜索文献。互联网搜索并不总能找到每一篇相关文章，但它总能找到比你真正想要的更多的东西。问题 6：2020年是相当奇怪和充满挑战的一年。这反映在牛津英语词典无法确定一个“年度单词”这一事实上。描述 2020 年的“年度词汇”是什么？为什么？PBA 回答：有趣的问题。我的简短回答还涉及多个词：大流行、虚拟、远程。如果我必须选择一个，那将是遥远的。过去的一年以我们从未想过的方式让我们分开，但以扩展我们前进方式的方式将我们聚集在一起（通常使用技术）。这是一个有趣的过程，但有望在未来带来好处。问题 7：Mary Rodgers 在 1993 年的箭头湖会议上讲述了来自三位一体的气相离子化学家（Jack Beauchamp、Mike Bowers 和 Peter Armentrout）令人期待的残酷问题，这引起了我的共鸣。(2) 我也被警告过你们有精致的“BS”探测器。因此，当约翰鲍伊病倒时，我怀着忐忑的心情在 1990 年的第八届 Asilomar 质谱会议上发表了他的演讲。（7）那是我第一次见到你，杰克，迈克和其他领先的气相离子化学家。我学到了很多东西，但问题的精神也给我留下了深刻的印象，这些问题旨在充分利用科学。我也觉得这个社区很受欢迎，而且有一种乐趣。鉴于 COVID19 减少了旅行，许多会议已被取消或重新安排，您对会议的未来有何看法？面对面的会议仍然重要吗？PBA 回答：三驾马车确实享有当之无愧的声誉，但您对这些问题的意图是正确的。在过去的一年里，我参加了一些虚拟会议。他们完成了与同行交流科学所需的相当多的工作。它们减少了我们的碳足迹，并且可以让更多的人参加，而不是用其他方式负担得起的。然而，虚拟会议中缺少个人互动、在大厅里撞到你的时刻、餐巾纸上的涂鸦。与朋友分享饮料和用餐并一起推测的能力为推进科学提供了真正的机会。在家中远离日常工作的时间可能会扩大。面对面的会议仍然具有相关性和必要性。问题 8：如果你有一台时光机，你想见见历史上的哪位科学家？你会问他们什么？PBA 答案：达芬奇。我一直认为他是文艺复兴时期的人的缩影，在艺术和科学方面都远远领先于那个时代。在这方面，我认为大多数人并不欣赏做好的科学有多少艺术和灵感。我会问他他的灵感是从哪里来的，为什么他认为人会飞。问题 9：您的大部分工作都集中在热力学上，2013 年的致敬 (4) 提到测量了 2000 多个不同的键能。你对化学的这个方面产生强烈兴趣，甚至痴迷的动机是什么？PBA 答案：我一直重视化学的定量方面。我记得在我研究生生涯的早期，我与已故的 Ben Freiser 进行了互动，当时他也是 Jack Beauchamp 的研究生，在那里他拿走了我最近测量的一个热化学片段，并开始以多种不同的方式对其进行分解。热力学具有永恒的品质：良好的测量对许多后代来说都是有价值的。热力学是预测性的；它可以明确地告诉你反应是否可能。最近的一个例子是一项引起相当大兴趣的研究，因为它声称在低至 200 K 的温度下观察到甲烷在金二聚体阳离子上催化转化为乙烯。问题是该反应吸热超过 200 kJ/mol , 这意味着不可能以热能催化。合作者和我调查了一些对观察结果的替代解释。(8) 本文引用了其他 8 个出版物。这篇文章尚未被其他出版物引用。本文引用了其他 8 个出版物。