Gas-phase fragmentation reactions of protonated glycerol and its oligomers: Metastable and collision-induced dissociation reactions,associated deuterium isotope effects and the structure of [C3H5O]+, [C2H5O]+, [C2H4O]+. and [C2H3O]+ ions

The chemistry of glycerol subjected to a high-energy particle beam was explored by studying the mass spectral fragmentation characteristics of gas-phase protonated glycerol and its oligomers by using tandem mass spectrometry. Both unimolecular metastable and collision-induced dissociation reactions were studied. Collision activation of protonated glycerol results in elimiation of H₂O and CH₃OH molecules. The resulting ions undergo further fragmentations. The origin of several fragment ions was established by obtaining their product and precursor ion spectra. Corresponding data for the deuterated analogs support those results. The structures of the fragment ions of compositions [C₃H₅O]⁺, [C₂H₅O]⁺, [C₂H₄O]^+. and [C₂H₃O]⁺ derived from protonated glycerol were also identified. Proton-bound glycerol oligomers fragment principally via loss of neutral glycerol molecules. Dissociation of mixed clusters of glycerol and deuterated glycerol displays normal secondary isotope effects.     

Reactions of ionized dibutyl ether

The reactions of ionized di-n-butyl ether are reported and compared with those of ionized n-butyl sec-butyl and di-sec-butyl ether. The main fragmentation of metastable (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+. is C₂H₅? loss (?85%), but minor amounts (2–4%) of CH₃?, C₄H₇?, C₄H₉?, C₄H₁₀ and C₄H₁₀O are also eliminated. In contrast, C₂H₅? elimination is of much lower abundance (20 and 4%, respectively) from metastable CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH(CH₃)CH₂CH₃^+. and [CH₃CH₂(CH₃)CH]₂O^+., which expel mainly C₂H₆ and CH₃? (35–55%). Studies on collisional activation spectra of the C₆H₁₃O⁺ oxonium ions reveal that C₂H₅? loss from (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+. gives the same product, (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂ ⁺O?CHCH₃) as that formed by direct cleavage of CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH(CH₃)CH₂CH₃^+.. Elimination of C₂H₅? from (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+. is interpreted by means of a mechanism in which a 1,4-H shift to the oxygen atom initiates a unidirectional skeletal rearrangement to CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH(CH₃)CH₂CH₃^+., which then undergoes cleavage to CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂⁺O?CHCH₃ and C₂H₅?. Further support for this mechanism is obtained from considering the collisional activation and neutralization-reionization mass spectra of the (C₄H₉)₂O^+. species and the behaviour of labelled analogues of (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+.. The rate of ethyl radical loss is suppressed relative to those of alternative dissociations by deuteriation at the γ-position of either or both butyl substituents. Moreover, C₂H₅? loss via skeletal rearrangement and fragmentation of the unlabelled butyl group in CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH₂CH₂CD₂CH₃^+. occurs approximately five times more rapidly than C₂H₄D? expulsion via isomerization and fission of the labelled butyl substituent. These findings indicate that the initial 1,4-hydrogen shift is influenced by a significant isotope effect, as would be expected if this step is rate limiting in ethyl radical loss.     

Gas phase reactions of protonated 1,3-diphenylpropyne and some isomeric [C15H13]+ ions

Metastable (3-phenyl-2-propynyl)benzenium ions, generated by electron impact induced fragmentation from the appropriately substituted 1,4-dihydrobenzoic acid, react by loss of ˙CH₃ and C₆H₆. The study of deuterated derivatives reveals that hydrogen/deuterium exchanges involving all hydrogen and deuterium atoms precede the fragmentations. The results suggest a skeletal rearrangement by electrophilic ring-closure reactions giving rise to protonated phenylindene and protonated 9,10-methano-9,10-dihydroanthracene prior to the elimination of C₆H₆ and ˙CH₃, respectively. A study of isomeric [C₁₅H₁₃]⁺ ions by collision-induced decomposition and by deuterium labelling shows that these ions interconvert by hydrogen migrations and skeletal rearrangements.     

The heats of formation of some protonated olefinic carbonyl compounds: [C5H9O]+ and [C4H7O2]+ ions

The proton transfer equilibrium reactions involving 3-penten-2-one, 3-methyl-3-buten-2-one, crotonic acid and methacrylic acid were carried out in an ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) spectrometer. The semiempirical method MNDO, used to estimate the heats of formation for 14 protonated [C₅H₉O]⁺ and [C₄H₇O₂]⁺ ions and the energetic aspect of the fragmentations of metastable [C₆H₁₂O]^+. and [C₆H₁₂O₂]^+. ions, leads to the conclusion that the ions corresponding to protonation at the carbonyl oxygen are the most stable. Thus the experimentally determined heats of formation of protonated olefinic carbonyl compounds can be attributed to the following structures: [CH₃COHCHCHCH₃]⁺ (δH_f = 490 KJ mol^?1), [CH₃COHC(CH₃)CH₂]⁺ (δH_f = 502 KJ mol^?1), [HOCOHCHCHCH₃]⁺ (δH_f = 330 KJ mol^?1) and [HOCOHC(CH₃)CH₂]⁺ (δH_f = 336 KJ mol^?1).     

The mass spectra of carboxylic acids—VI: Metastable dissociations of isomeric ions in the mass spectra of oxalic and formic acids,and malonic and acetic acids

Metastable ion peak shapes and abundances have been studied for competing dissociations of the [H₂CO₂]^+. ions produced in the mass spectra of formic and oxalic acids, and of [H₄C₂O₂]^+. ions produced from acetic and malonic acids. It is concluded that for each pair ions different with respect to structure and energy content are present; the difference is more apparent in the [H₄C₂O₂]^+. ions than in the smaller [H₂CO₂]^+. species.     

On the gas-phase reaction of C3O2+. with C3O2

The gas-phase, ion molecule reaction between C₃O₂^+. and C₃O₂ has been studied by both double-focusing and ion trap mass spectrometry, rationalized by the formation of a dimeric, odd electron cation [C₆O₄]^+. which decomposes extensively through sequential CO losses giving rise to [C₅O₃]^+. and [C₄O₂]^+. ions. The thermodynamics of this process have been investigated by means of ab initio calculation performed on the above species using different basis sets (STO-3G, 3-21G and 6-31G^*).     

Reaction of ionized propene with methanol: Comparison with CH3OH2+ formation from ionized 2-methylpropanol

Methanol exchanges its hydroxyl hydrogen with deuteriums in ionized propene during the formation of protonated methanol. This exchange is attributed to the interconversion [CH₃CH?CH₂^+. HOCH₃?][CH₂ ?CHCH₂ ⁺H₂OCH₃] in single collisions. The exchange in this ion-molecule reaction is analogous to that observed in the formation of protonated methanol from ionized 2-methylpropanol, supporting the intermediacy of ion-neutral complexes in the final step of the latter reaction. Ion-molecule reactions were studied using a Fourier transform mass spectrometer.     

Structure and formation of gaseous [C4H6O]+˙ ions: 1—The enolic ions [CH2C(OH)?CHCH2]+˙ and [CH2CH?CHCH(OH)]+˙ and their relationship with their keto counterparts

The [C₄H₆O]^+˙ ion of structure [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]^+˙ (a) is generated by loss of C₄H₈ from ionized 6,6-dimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-ol. The heat of formation ΔH_f of [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]^+˙ was estimated to be 736 kJ mol^?1. The isomeric ion [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ (b) was shown to have ΔH_f, ? 761 kJ mol^?1, 54 kJ mol^?1 less than that of its keto analogue [CH₃COCH?CH₂]^+˙. Ion [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ may be generated by loss of C₂H₄ from ionized hex-1-en-3-one or by loss of C₄H₈ from ionized 4,4-dimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-ol. The [C₄H₆O]^+˙ ion generated by loss of C₂H₄ from ionized 2-cyclohexen-1-ol was shown to consist of a mixture of the above enol ions by comparing the metastable ion and collisional activation mass spectra of [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]^+˙ and [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ ions with that of the above daughter ion. It is further concluded that prior to their major fragmentations by loss of CH₃˙ and CO, [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]⁺˙ and [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ do not rearrange to their keto counterparts. The metastable ion and collisional activation characteristics of the isomeric allenic [C₄H₆O]^+˙ ion [CH₂?C?CHCH₂OH]^+˙ are also reported.     

Structure and fragmentation of [C6H13O]+ ions formed by chemical ionization

The structure and fragmentation of eight [C₆H₁₃O] ⁺ ions formed by protonation of C₆H₁₂O carbonyl compounds in the gas phase have been investigated using isotopic labeling and metastable ion studies to investigate the fragmentation reactions and collisional dissociation studies to probe ion structures. Protonated 3-methyl-2-pentanone and protonated 2-methyl-3-pentanone readily-interconvert by pinacolic-retro-pinacolic rearrangements; the remaining six ions represent stable ion structures, although in many cases fragmentation is preceded by pinacolic-type rearrangements. Unimolecular (metastable ion) fragmentation of the [C₆H₁₃O] ⁺ species occurs by elimination of H₂O, C₃H₆, C₄H₈ and C₂H₄O. The last three elimination reactions appear to occur through the intermediacy of a proton-bound complex of a carbonyl compound and an olefin, with the proton residing with the species of higher proton affinity on decomposition of the complex.     

Mass-spectrometric study of the cyclization of diazo ketones. 4. Cyclization of N'-phenyl-3-ureido- and N'-phenyl-3-thioureido-1-diazoalkan-2-ones. 2-Anilino-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazin-5-ones

A comparison of the mass spectra of N'-phenyl-3-thioureido-1-diazo-alkan-2-ones (I) with the mass spectra of 2-anilino-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazin-5-ones (II) and N'-phenyl-3-ureido-1-diazoalkan-2-ones (III) makes it possible to conclude that under the influence of electron impact the molecular ions of the diazo ketones, through the loss of a molecule of nitrogen, undergo only partial cyclization to the corresponding thiazinones (oxazinones in the case of III). In the case of diazo ketones III virtually all of the [M-N₂]⁺ ions undergo fragmentation without cyclization. Under chemical-ionization conditions (with isobutane as the gas-reactant) the principal fragmentation of the protonated ions of I and III entails cleavage of the C-N bonds. Only a small part of these ions lose a molecule of nitrogen, but it is impossible to establish the structures of the resulting [MH-N₂]⁺ ions from the mass-spectrometric data.See [1], for communication 3.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 473–480, April, 1983.     

Collisional activation spectra of the adduct ions of 1,2,3-triarylpropenones under ammonia chemical ionization conditions

Under ammonia chemical ionization (CI) conditions triarylpropenones undergo hydrogen radical-induced olefinic bond reduction on metal surfaces, resulting in [M + 2H + NH₄]⁺ ions corresponding to the ammonium adduct of the saturated ketone. The decomposition of the adduct ions, [MNH₄]⁺ and [M + 2H + NH₄]⁺, was studied by collision-induced dissociation mass-analysed ion kinetic energy (CID-MIKE) spectroscopy in a reverse geometry instrument. From the CID-MIKE spectra of the [MNH₄]⁺, [M + 2H + NH₄]⁺, [MND₄]⁺ and [M + 2D + ND₄]⁺ ions it is clear that the fragmentation of the adduct ions involves loss of NH₃ followed by various cyclization reactions resulting in stable condensed ring systems. Elimination of ArH and ArCHO subsequent to the loss of NH₃ and formation of aroyl ion are characteristic decomposition pathways of the [MNH₄]⁺ ions, whereas elimination of ArCH₃ and formation of [ArCH₂]⁺ are characteristic of the [M + 2H + NH₄]⁺ ions of these propenones.     

Isomerization and fragmentation of methylfuran ions and pyran ions in the gas phase

The mutual interconversion of the molecular ions [C₅H₆O]⁺ of 2-methylfuran (1), 3-methylfuran (2) and 4H-pyran (3) before fragmentation to [C₅H₅O]⁺ ions has been studied by collisional activation spectrometry, by deuterium labelling, by the kinetic energy release during the fragmentation, by appearance energles and by a MNDO calculation of the minimum energy reaction path. The electron impact and collisional activation mass spectra show clearly that the molecular ions of 1–3 do not equilibrate prior to fragmentation, but that mostly pyrylium ions [C₅H₅O]⁺ arise by the loss of a H atom. This implies an irreversible isomerization of methylfuran ions 1 and 2 into pyran ions before fragmentation, in contrast to the isomerization of the related systems toluene ions/cycloheptatriene ions. Complete H/D scrambling is observed in deuterated methylfuran ions prior to the H/D loss that is associated with an iostope effect k_H/k_D = 1.67–2.16 for metastable ions. In contrast, no H/D scrambling has been observed in deuterated 4H-pyran ions. However, the loss of a H atom from all metastable [C₅H₅O]⁺ ions gives rise to a flat-topped peak in the mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectrum and a kinetic energy release (T₅₀) of 26 ± 1.5 kJ mol^?1. The MNDO calculation of the minimum energy reaction path reveals that methylfuran ions 1 and 2 favour a rearrangement into pyran ions before fragmentation into furfuryl ions, but that the energy barrier of the first rearrangement step is at least of the same height as the barrier for the dissociation of pyran ions into pyrylium ions. This agrees with the experimental results.     

An energy-resolved study of the fragmentation of ionized 1-Penten-3-ol

A detailed energy-resolved study of the fragmentation of CH₂?CHCH(OH)CD₂CD₃ (1-d₅) has been carried out using metastable ion studies and charge exchange techniques, combined with collision-induced dissociation studies to establish the structures of fragment ions. At low internal energies (metastable ions) the molecular ion of 1-d₅ rearranges to the 3-pentanone structure and fragments by loss of C₂H₅ or C₂D₅ leading to the acyl structure, [CH₃CH₂C?O]⁺ or [CD₃CD₂C?O]⁺, for the fragment ion. However, with increasing internal energy of the molecular ion this rearrangement process decreases rapidly in importance and loss of C₂D₅ by direct cleavage, leading to [CH₂?CHCH?OH]⁺, becomes the dominant fragmentation reaction. As a result the [C₃H₅O]⁺ ion seen in the electron impact mass spectrum of 1-penten-3-ol has predominantly the protonated acrolein structure.     

Gaseous [C2H3O]+ ions

[C₂H₃O]⁺ ions with the initial structures [CH₃CO]⁺, and [CH₂CHO]⁺ cannot be distinguished on the basis of their collisional activation spectra, demonstrating that these isomers interconvert at energies below their threshold for decomposition. Self-protonation of ketene leads to the [CH₃CO]⁺ ion, while the [C₂H₃O]⁺ ion generated from glycerol most probably has the structure of an oxygen protonated ketene [CH₂?C?OH]⁺.     

Isomers of Amine Molecular Ions; The Structures of C2H7N+. and related radical cations

[CH₃CHNH₃]^+. and [CH₂CH₂NH₃]^+. ions exist as distinct, stable species in the gas-phase. These ions are formed from a variety of precursors, and they can be characterized by their unimolecular and collision-induced reactions. The properties of deuterium labeled analogs confirm the proposed structures. Evidence that stable C₃H₉N^+. ions with unconventional structures also exist is presented; these and other amine ion isomers are formed from inter alia, alkylamine molecular ions in the ion source.     

Fragmentation of 1- and 3-methoxypropene ions another part of the C4H8O+• potential energy surface

The fragmentation mechanisms of metastable ionized 1? and 3?methoxypropene have been examined in detail by using ionization and appearance energy measurements, metastable ion and collisional activation mass spectra, and a variety of isotopically labeled molecules. These metastable C₄H₈O^+? ions fragment by loss of H; CH₃, and H₂CO, and the experimental observations allowed the construction of the potential energy diagram which describes their interconversion and the participation of four other distonic and carbene C₄H₈O^+? ions. It was found that these two methyl alkenyl ether ions had no common reaction channel with either the 2?methoxy isomer or with any of the alcohol, keto, or enol C₄H₈O^n+? isomers which previously have been extensively studied.     

Charge stripping mass spectra: A method for identifying isomeric [C5H8]+˙ and [C3H6]+˙ ions

Charge stripping (collisional ionization) mass spectra are reported for isomeric [C₅H₈]⁺˙ and [C₃H₆]⁺˙ ions. The results provide the first method for adequately quantitatively determining the structures and abundances of these species when they are generated as daughter ions. Thus, loss of H₂O from the molecular ions of cyclopentanol and pentanal is shown to produce mixtures of ionized penta-1,3- and -1,4-dienes. Pent-1-en-3-ol generates [penta-1,3-diene]⁺˙. [C₃H₆]⁺˙ ions from ionized butane, methylpropane and 2-methylpropan-1-ol are shown to have the [propene]⁺˙ structure, whereas [cyclopropane]⁺˙ is produced from ionized tetrahydrofuran, penta-1,3-diene and pent-1-yne.     

Mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy spectra of the [M + 1]+ ions of aliphatic esters produced by chemical ionization

To test the similarity of chemical ionization (CI) spectra of esters to the collision-induced decomposition mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy (CID-MIKE) spectra of protonated esters, the CID-MIKE spectra of the [M + 1]⁺ ions of nineteen aliphatic esters were studied. The major fragments produced in the two kinds of experiment are similar, but there are significant differences in the ions of high mass, which would reduce the usefulness of library searches of CI spectra to identify MIKE spectra of [M + 1]⁺ ions.     

Mass spectroscopic studies of riboflavin and isotopically labelled lumiflavins

Under electron impact conditions 3-methylriboflavin is attacked at the ribityl side chain to generate 3-methyl-lumiflavin. This is verified by analysis of metastable fragmentations and comparison with model ions. Formation of 1,3-dimethyl-lumkhrome through migration of the methyl group from N(10) to position N(1) is positively excluded. A general fragmentation scheme for ionized 3-methyl-lumiflavin is developed based on exact mass measurements using various ²H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N isotopically labelled derivatives. The predominating initial loss of CH₃NCO exclusively involves the 3- and 4-positions, for which an asynchronous mechanism is discussed.     

Interaction of the trimethylsilyl cation with molecules of aliphatic nitro compounds in the gas phase

Interaction of mononitroalkanes with the trimethylsilyl cation in the gas phase under chemical ionization (CI) conditions results in the formation of [M+SiMe₃]⁺ ions, which are more stable than the corresponding protonated molecular ions. In the case of 2-nitro-2-methylpropane and 2-nitropentane, fragmentation of the [M+SiMe₃]⁺ ions occurs with the formation of C₄H₉ ⁺ and C₅H₁₁ ⁺ carbocations, respectively. In the case of 1,1-dinitroethane and 1-halo-1,1-dinitroethane, fragmentation of the [M+SiMe₃]⁺ ions occurs with splitting off of a NO₂ ^. radical or an XNO₂ molecule (X=H, F, or Cl). Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1232–1234, June, 1997.