Structure and dynamics of gas phase ions: Interplay between experiments and computations in IRMPD spectroscopy

he investigation of the molecular structure and dynamics of ions in gas phase is an item of increasing interest, due the role such species play in many areas of chemistry and physics, not to mention that they often represent elusive intermediates in more complex reaction mechanisms. Infrared Multiple Photon Dissociation spectroscopy is today one of the most advanced technique to this purpose, because of its high sensitivity to even small structure changes. The interpretation of IRMPD spectra strongly relies on high level quantum mechanical computations, so that a close interplay is needed for a detailed understanding of structure and kinetics properties which can be gathered from the many applications of this powerful technique. Recent advances in experiment and theory in this field are here illustrated, with emphasis on recent progresses for the elucidation of the mechanism of action of cisplatin, one of the most widely used anticancer drugs.