my professor asks for the M+ peak for a set of metal complexes, and on it he has Cu(bpy)2 + , isn't this already a M+ ion? Is this a trick question? bpy is a bipyridine ring

Answer 1

Technically I would think M+ ion is the Cu^2+ ion that comes from the bpy complex; i.e., if the ionization is
Cu(bpy)2^2+ ==> Cu^2+ + 2bpy
So you might expect three separate peaks but then you haven't told us that this is; i.e., infrared, mass spec, magnetic resonance, etc.

Answer 2

oh, this was for mass spec