The fragmentation and isomerization of internal energy selected acetaldehyde molecular cations

The fixed wavelength photoelectron—photoion coincidence technique has been employed to study the fragmentation behaviour of excited acetaldehyde molecular cations with internal energies up to 7 eV. The recorded breakdown curves of the parent ion as well as the C₂H₃O⁺, CHO⁺ and CH₃⁺ fragment ions enable to reject state specific fragmentation behaviour of the title compound into the CHO⁺ and CH₃⁺ fragment ion channels. The present data give evidence of a fast isomerization of the CH₃CHO⁺ cation from its first electronically excited state ā(²A″) to the oxirane cation in its electronical ground state X?(²B₂).     

Photoelectron—photoion-coincidence measurements on 2,4-hexadiyne

2,4-Hexadiyne cations in their first excited electronic state òE_ureveal a decay by an effective competition between fluorescence and fragmentation. The present photoelectron—photoion-coincidence study of 2,4-hexadiyne cation provides individual breakdown diagrams for the parent ion and the seven dominant fragment ions, C₆H₅⁺, C₆H₄⁺, C₅H₃⁺, C₄H₄⁺, C₄ H₃⁺, C₄H₂⁺, C₃H₃⁺ in the ionisation energy regions populated by He(Iα) excitation. Additional information concerning the rate constants and the kinetic energy released on the formation of C₆H₅⁺ and C₄H₃⁺ are deduced from the time-of-flight (TOF) distributions of these ions. The appearance potentials for the two fragments C₄H₃⁺ and C₄H₂⁺ could also be measured, as these lie well within the third band of the He(Iα)-PE spectrum.     

Dissociative Photoionization of 1,4-Dioxane with Tunable VUV Synchrotron Radiation

The photoionization and photodissociation of 1,4-dioxane have been investigated with a reflectron time-of-flight photoionization mass spectrometry and a tunable vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation in the energy region of 8.0-15.5 eV. Parent ion and fragment ions at m/z 88, 87, 58, 57, 45, 44, 43, 41, 31, 30, 29, 28 and 15 are detected under supersonic conditions. The ionization energy of DX as well as the appearance energies of its fragment ions C₄H₇O₂⁺, C₃H₆O⁺, C₃H₅O⁺, C₂H₅O⁺, C₂H₄O⁺, C₂H₃O⁺, C₃H₅⁺, CH₃O⁺, C₂H₆⁺, C₂H₅⁺/CHO⁺, C₂H₄⁺ and CH₃⁺ was determined from their photoionization efficiency curves. The optimized structures for the neutrals, cations, transition states and intermediates related to photodissociation of DX are characterized at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level and their energies are obtained by G3B3 method. Possible dissociative channels of the DX are proposed based on comparison of experimental AE values and theoretical predicted ones. Intramolecular hydrogen migrations are found to be the dominant processes in most of the fragmentation pathways of 1,4-dioxane.     

Dissociative photoionization of isoprene: experiments and calculations

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) dissociative photoionization of isoprene in the energy region 8.5–18 eV was investigated with photoionization mass spectroscopy (PIMS) using synchrotron radiation (SR). The ionization energy (IE) of isoprene as well as the appearance energies (AEs) of its fragment ions C₅H₇⁺, C₅H₅⁺, C₄H₅⁺, C₃H₆⁺, C₃H₅⁺, C₃H₄⁺, C₃H₃⁺ and C₂H₃⁺ were determined with photoionization efficiency (PIE) curves. The dissociation energies of some possible dissociation channels to produce those fragment ions were also determined experimentally. The total energies of C₅H₈ and its main fragments were calculated using the Gaussian 03 program and the Gaussian‐2 method. The IE of C₅H₈, the AEs for its fragment ions, and the dissociation energies to produce them were predicted using the high‐accuracy energy model. According to our results, the experimental dissociation energies were in reasonable agreement with the calculated values of the proposed photodissociation channels of C₅H₈. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structures of [C3H6O]+· ions from propylene oxide and methyl-substituted 1,3-dioxolanes by photodissociation and ion/molecule reactions

Photodissociation experiments and ion/molecule reactions with pyridine and hex-1-ene show that [C₃H₆O]^+· ions from propylene oxide isomerize to the vinyl metbyl ether structure. [C₃H₆O]^+· fragment ions from methyl-substituted 1,3-dioxolanes have lower internal energies. In these cases a mixture of photodissociating ring-opened propylene oxide ions and vinyl methyl ether ions is observed.     

A reinvestigation of the collisional activation mass spectra of [C7H7]+ ion mixtures

The collisional activation (CA) mass spectra of the two isomeric [C₇H₇]⁺ ions, benzyl and tropyl, have been reassessed. The structure-characteristic feature of their CA mass spectra, the m/z 77:74 abundance ratio, has been confirmed as 3.15 ± 0.2 for benzyl cations and lowered to 035 ± 03 for tropyl ions. Benzyl–tropyl cation mixture analyses were made and were in general agreement with earlier CA results, but still disagree with the results of ion cyclotron resonance experiments. The behavior of toluene molecular ions close to their dissociation threshold to [C₇H₇]⁺ + H˙ was examined; for metastable [C₇H₈]⁺˙ ions an approximately 55:45 benzyl:tropyl ratio was found. Observations are discussed in relation to photoionization and photoelecrron-photoionization coincidence studies, both of which predict high tropyl ion contents at low energies. However, at the lowest energies attainable in this study the benzyl content failed to fall below 50% and it is concluded that toluene molecular ions do not generate tropyl cations at their dissociation limit.     

Sensitivity of charge transfer reactions to hydrocarbon ion structures

Charge transfer reactivities of hydrocarbon ions have been measured with time-of-flight techniques, and results correlated with theoretical structures computed by self-consistent field molecular orbital methods. Recombination energies, ion structures, heats of formation, reaction energetics and relative charge transfer cross-sections are presented for molecular and fragment ions produced by electron bombardment ionization of CH₄, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₈ and C₄H₁₀ molecules. Even-electron bridged cations have low ion recombination energies and relatively low charge transfer cross-sections as compared with odd-electron hydrocarbon cations.     

Ab initio calculation of the effective valence shell hamiltonian of carbon: Simultaneous treatment of neutral and ion states

The n = 2 effective valence shell hamiltonian, $\text{H}$^v, of carbon is evaluated through second order using ³P Hartree—Fock orbitals (5s4p) with added d functions to provide results within a few percent of the spd convergence limits. The calculated $\text{H}$^v is employed to evaluate the n = 2 valence states of C, C^?, C⁺, C²⁺ and C³⁺ with an average deviation of the 21 excitation energies, ionization potentials and electron affinity from experimental values of 0.32 eV. Three-electron parts of $\text{H}$^v contribute substantially to a number of these excitation energies.     

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.     

Stereochemical applications of mass spectrometry 4. Energy-resolved study of the fragmentation of esters of maleic and fumaric acids

The fragmentation of the dimethyl and diethyl esters of maleic and fumaric acids have been studied as a function of the internal energy of the molecular ions using charge exchange techniques and metastable ion studies in combination with isotopic labelling. The dimethyl ester molecular ions show distinctive behaviours at both low and high internal energies, indicating that interconversion of the molecular ions does not occur. The fumarate molecular ion fragments by elimination of CH₂O and (CO₂ + CH₃) in the metastable ion time-frame, while the maleate ester fragments primarily by loss of CH₃O. At higher internal energies both molecular ions fragment primarily by loss of CH₃O but the fragment ion from the maleate ester shows a greater stability, presumably because it assumes the cyclic cationated maleic anhydride structure. The diethyl maleate and diethyl fumarate molecular ions show identical metastable ion characteristics; in addition the [COS]⁺· charge exchange mass spectra are very similar. These results indicate that low-energy molecular ions interconvert. At higher internal energies interconversion does not occur, and, although both moiecular ions fragment by loss of C₂H₅O, the resultsint fragment ions show different stabilities and fragmentation reactions.     

A photo-ionization study of organosulfur ring compounds: Thiirane,thietane and tetrahydrothiophene

The gas phase heats of formation of several organosulfur cations were determined from thiirane, thietane and tetrahydrothiophene precursor molecules by photoionization mass spectrometry. Heats of formation at 0 K and 298 K are reported for the following ions: [H₂CS]^+˙, [H₃CS]⁺, [C₂H₃S]⁺, [C₂H₄S]^+˙, [C₃H₅S]⁺, [C₃H₆S]^+˙, [C₄H₇S]⁺ and [C₄H₈S]^+˙. The [C₄H₇S]⁺ (m/z 87), [C₂H₄S]^+˙ (m/z 60), [C₂H₃S]⁺ (m/z 59), [C₄H₇]⁺ (m/z 55), [C₄H₆]^+˙ (m/z 54) and [CH₂S]^+˙ (m/z 46) ions are produced from metastable tetrahydrothiophene ions at photon energies between 10.2 and 10.7 eV. Decay rates of internal energy selected parent ions to the m/z 60, 59, 55 and 54 fragments were measured by threshold photoelectron-photoion coincidence, the results of which are compared to statistical theory (RRKM/QET) calculations. The [C₂H₄S]^+˙ ion from tetrahydrothiophene is found to have the thioacetaldehyde structure. From the measured [C₂H₄S]^+˙ onset a ΔH = 50±8 kJ mol^?1 was calculated for the thioacetaldehyde molecule.     

Laser-ion beam photodissociation studies of C4H4 radical cations

The laser-ion beam photodissociation for [C₄H₄]⁺˙ ions produced from a variety of precursors has been studied. Based on the data it is apparent that two structurally distinct forms of the [C₄H₄]⁺˙ ion are produced by fragmentation of larger systems. The relative population of the various structural forms is very dependent on the internal energy of the fragmenting ion, with 1-buten-3-yne [C₄H₄]⁺˙ ions being favored at low internal energies. As the internal energy of the reactant ion is increased, the relative population of butatriene [C₄H₄]⁺˙ ions increases. The laser-ion beam photodissociation technique is able to selectively sample these two structural forms.     

The origins of the base peak in the electron impact spectrum of limonene

The origins and nature of the [C₅H₈]⁺? ions which form the base peak in the electron impact spectrum of limonene, at nominal electron energies greater than 11 eV, have been investigated. Linked scan techniques were used to study unimolecular and collision induced fragmentation reactions. No fragmentation pathway leading to [C₅H₈]⁺? could be found. Measurement of ionization efficiency curves indicated that the threshold for formation of C₅H₈[⁺?] lies above the range of internal energies deposited in incident ions by collisional activation. By a combination of comparisons of collisionally activated spectra and energetic considerations, the [C₅H₈]⁺? ions formed from limonene were shown to resemble those of the molecular ion of isoprene, while the neutral fragment is most likely isoprene also. Deuterium labelling experiments yielded evidence of extensive scrambling prior to fragmentation. The most probable mechanism of formation of [C₅H₈]⁺? appears to involve a retro Diels–Alder reaction of a structurally intact molecular ion of limonene.     

Ab initio and density functional study of substituent effects in halogenated cations of alkenes

A theoretical study of the halogenated cations of mono-, di-, tri- and tetramethyl-substituted ethylenes, C₃H₆X⁺, C₄H₈X⁺, C₅H₁₀X⁺ and C₆H₁₂X⁺, X=F, Cl, Br, have been studied at the ab initio MP2 and density functional B3LYP levels of theory implementing 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The potential energy surfaces of all molecules under investigation have been scanned and the ¹³C and ¹H NMR chemical shifts for all the bridged halonium ions studied have been calculated using the GIAO method at the B3LYP level. The calculated halogen binding energies in the halonium ions have been correlated with the experimental rates of chlorination and bromination of the corresponding alkenes. The computed hydride affinities and the NICS values for the bridged cations show that the bromo cations are more stable than the analogous chloro and fluoro cations.     

Equilibrium and kinetics of reversible capture of solvated electron-sodium+ pairs by 1,1-diphenylethylene in tetrahydrofuran

Solvated electron-Na⁺ pairs, e^?,Na⁺, and 1,1-diphenylethylene reversibly recombine in THF, the capture constant = 3 × 10⁷ M^?1 s^?1 and the detachment constant = 46 s^?1; the e^?,Na⁺, formed by flash-photolysis of Na⁺,$\text{C}\text{?}$(Ph)₂CH₂CH₂$\text{C}\text{?}$(Ph₂, Na⁺ survive for 0.1 s in this solvent at ambient temperature without any detectable decay.     

Chemical ionization mass spectra of selected C3H6O compounds

The chemical ionization mass spectra of five isomers of C₃H₆O (acetone, propionaldehyde, oxetane, propylene oxide and allyl alcohol) have been determined using a variety of reagent gases (H₂, D₂, N₂/H₂, CO₂/H₂ and CO/H₂). The [C₃H₇O]⁺ ions produced by protonation of these isomers undergo very similar reactions to those reported for analogous [C₃H₇O]⁺ metastable ions; however, decomposing ions generated by chemical ionization appear to have somewhat higher internal energies. The results of ²H labelling studies (D₂ reagent gas or labelled analogues of C₃H₆O) indicate that protonation occurs mainly on oxygen and are consistent with previous investigations of metastable oxonium ions. The protonated acetone ion is particularly stable, in agreement with the higher activation energies for fragmentation of this isomer than for other [C₃H₇O]⁺ structures. As the calculated heat of protonation of C₃H₆O is reduced by changing the reagent gas, so the extent to which fragmentation occurs decreases. This is discussed in the context of competition between fragmentation and collisional stabilization of the excited [C₃H₇O]⁺* ion. It is concluded that on average a large fraction (approaching 1) of the exothermicity of the protonation reaction resides in the [C₃H₇O]⁺* ions produced initially.     

Infrared spectra and structure of carbanions—XIII: A study of the carbanions generated from acetonitrile,acetonitrile-d3 and acetonitrile-15n

The study of the IR spectral data for metallated acetonitrile (counter ions Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ in solvents tetrahydrofuran, THF, and hexamethylphosphotriamide, HMPT) and its D_3? and ¹⁵N- derivatives together with $\text{CNDO}\text{2}$ and normal coordinate calculations showed that the mesomeric ion H₂CCN has a favoured planar structure and the carbon-metal bond has a pronounced ionic character.     

A structural investigation of [C6H6]2+ and [C6H6]+˙ ions involved in charge exchange reactions

Mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectra for collisional activation (CA) of [C₆H₆]⁺˙ formed via electron capture by [C₆H₆]²⁺ ions in collision with neutral benzene molecules have been compared for the C₆H₆ isomers benzene, 1,5-hexadiyne and 2,4-hexadiyne. Comparisons of fragment abundance and total CA fragment yields were also made for [C₆H₆]⁺˙ ions generated by electron ionization (EI). CA conditions of ion velocity and collision gas pressure were identical in these comparisons. In general the fragment abundance patterns for the ions formed by charge exchange were very similar to those for singly charged benzene ions generated by EI. However, significant variations in CA fragment yield (the ratio of the total CA fragment ion abundance to the abundance of the incident unfragmented ions) were observed. It is not clear from the results whether these variations reflect structurally different ions or ions of different internal energies. The CA spectra of [C₆H₆]⁺˙ ions derived from charge exchange reactions between the benzene dication and the target gases He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe have also been recorded and, once again, very similar fragment abundance patterns were observed along with large variations in total CA fragment yields. Charge exchange efficiency measurements are reported for reactions between the benzene dication and the targets He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe and C₆H₆ (benzene) and also for the doubly charged ions derived from the linear C₆H₆ isomers. In the latter case Xe and benzene targets were used. The energetics and efficiency measurements for the former reactions suggest that for targets such as He and Ne the processes probably involve excited states of the doubly charged ions. The efficiencies measured for the latter reactions were distinctly different for the three C₆H₆ isomers and may indicate a strong dependence of charge exchange cross-section on doubly charged ion structure.     

Structure des ions [C4H7O]+ obtenus par fragmentations du [1-methylcyclobutanol]

The mass spectra of metastable molecular and fragment ions demonstrate that the loss of CH₃^. from [1-methylcyclobutanol]^.+ leads competitively to three different ions: $\text{a}$ = protonated cyclobutanone; $\text{b}$ = [n-C₃H₇CO]⁺ and $\text{c}$ = protonated methylvinylketone.     

Gas phase isopropylation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Fluorine and methyl substituent effects on reactivity and orientation.

The isopropylation of substituted benzenes by $\text{s}$C₃H⁺₇ cations is studied to evaluate the directive effects of fluorine, methyl group and their combinations as ring substituents in the gas-phase aromatic substitution.