The complex formation of tetracyclohexylammonium C1-resorcinarene with various guests - an electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry study

The complex formation of a tetraammonium C1-resorcinarene (R+4HCl) was studied using electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI-FTICR) mass spectrometry. Although R+4HCl easily loses its counter ions in the ESI process, a neutral self-assembled structure with an intramolecular circular hydrogen-bonded 16-membered -N(+)-H ... X(-) ... H-N(+)- array with ammonium ion as the charge-giving species was observed in the gas phase. In addition to chloride, several other counter ions were also studied. The size and basicity of the counter ion as well as the size of the charge-giving cation strongly affected the gas-phase stability of the self-assembled system. H/D exchange experiments showed that the ammonium substituents in the apical position of R affect the hydrogen-bonding system in the resorcinarene. The complexation of the saturated dicarboxylic acids was found to depend on the length of the carbon chain. The rigidity of the molecular skeleton of the acid improved the complexation considerably. The orientation and position of the carboxylic groups also had an effect on the complexation and consequently enabled stereochemical differentiation of the acids. Mass spectrometric observations were supported by theoretical calculations.     

Chiral differentiation of some cyclic β‐amino acids by kinetic and fixed ligand methods

Differentiation of β ‐amino acid enantiomers with two chiral centres was investigated by kinetic method with trimeric metal‐bound complexes. Four enantiomeric pairs of β ‐amino acids were studied: cis‐(1R,2S)‐, cis‐(1S,2R)‐, trans‐(1R,2R)‐ and trans‐(1S,2S)‐2‐aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acids (cyclopentane β ‐amino acids), and cis‐(1R,2S)‐, cis‐(1S,2R)‐, trans‐(1R,2R)‐, and trans‐(1S,2S)‐2‐aminocyclohexanecarboxylic acids (cyclohexane β ‐amino acids). The results showed that the choice of metal ion (Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺) and chiral reference compound (α‐ and β ‐amino acids) had an effect on the enantioselectivity. Especially, aromaticity of the reference compound was noted to enhance the enantioselectivity. The fixed‐ligand kinetic method, a modification of the kinetic method, was then applied to the same β ‐amino acids, with dipeptides used as fixed ligands. With this method, dipeptide containing an aromatic side chain enhanced the enantioselectivity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron ionization and methane chemical ionization mass spectrometry study of some 2,2-disubstituted 1,3-dioxolanes, 1,3-dithiolanes, 1,3-oxathiolanes and 1,3-dioxanes. Gas-phase lactone and thiolactone formation

The electron ionization and methane chemical ionization mass spectra of some 2,2-disubstituted 1,3-dioxolanes, 1,3-dithiolanes and 1,3-oxathiolanes were studied. Especially, the effect of the length of the side chain in ring position 2 of these compounds and the ease of formation of possible lactone/thiolactone ion as a fragmentation product were examined. In addition, two 2,2-disubstituted 1,3-dioxanes were studied to see the effect of the bigger ring size. The formation of lactone ions was more favorable under methane chemical ionization than under electron ionization conditions. The structures of fragment ions and the ions generated from model compounds were carefully studied using both high- and low-energy collision-induced dissociation. Also ab initio molecular orbital calculations up to the HF/6–31G** level of theory for protonated 2-methyl-2-propanoic acid ethyl ester of 1,3-dioxolane, 1,3-oxathiolane and 1,3-dithiolane and for two isomeric bicyclic ions were carried out. The theoretical results obtained favor the formation of the lactone ion. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron impact induced fragmentation of dihydro-1,4-dithiines. 2,3-Substituted 5,6-dihydro-l,4-dithiines

In the electron impact induced fragmentation of 2,3-disubstituted 5,6-dihydro-1,4-dithiines, the most important cleavage of the heterocyclic ring occurs via the retro-Diels-Alder type of reaction. The further fragmentation of the resulting radical cation gives rise to substitutes thiocarbonyl cations. This fragmentation favours formations of ions in which the electron-deficient carbon-sulphur triple bond is stabilized by an electron-releasing group. The ring fragmentation was observed to be dependent on the nature of the 3- and 2-substituents of the ring when a series of 3- and 2-substituted 5,6-dihydro-l,4-dithiines was investigated. The fragmentation of dihydro-l,4-dithiines partly resembles the fragmentation of the corresponding dihydro-l,4-oxathiines. The presence of the two sulphur atoms in dihydro-l,4-dithiines give rise to more stable molecular ions than observed in the case of the dihydro-1,4-oxathiine analogues. Fragmentations of dihydro-l,4-dithiines can also involve extrusions of alkylradicals or HS-radical from the heterocyclic rings of molecular ions.     

Alkali metal mediated resorcarene capsules: an ESI-FTICRMS study on gas-phase structure and cation binding of tetraethyl resorcarene and its per-methylated derivative

Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICRMS) with additional ab initio calculations were used to examine the alkali metal cation binding selectivity (i.e., molecular recognition) and host properties of tetraethyl resorcarene (1) and its per-methylated derivative (2). The significance of intramolecular hydrogen bonding for the crown conformation was demonstrated. The presence of intramolecular flip-flop hydrogen bonding in 1 was confirmed both with calculations and in ND3-exchange experiments. All the alkali metal cations formed host-guest complexes by docking inside the cavity of the host. Complexation with the larger cations, especially Cs+, was favored. All the alkali metal cations also formed dimeric resorcarene capsules with 1. The capsules were directly H-bonded species, with no linking solvent molecules. ND3-exchange experiments and molecular modeling revealed the significance of direct intermolecular H-bonding for the crown conformation of 1 and stability of the capsule structure.     

The formation of complexes by tetraethylresorcarene with planar guest ions studied by electrospray ionisation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Resorcarenes have become a popular subject of study in the field of supramolecular chemistry. In this work the formation of host-guest complexes between a synthetic macrocyclic host, tetraethylresorcarene, and various eligible planar guests, was studied by mass spectrometric methods. The size and nature of the guest ion strongly influenced the complex formation. Collision-induced dissociation experiments revealed the fragmentation patterns of the resorcarene skeleton and the differences in fragmentation induced by the guest ions.     

Electron impact ionization mass spectra of some substituted dipyrido[1,2-a:4,3-d]pyrimidinones

The electron impact ionization mass spectra of dipyrido [1,2-a:4,3-d]pyrimidinones are strongly influenced by the degree of aromaticity of the fused rings. The molecular ions of the compounds are fairly stable. The main routes of fragmentation involve formation of the [M – H]⁺ ion and loss of substituents, H₂CN˙, CO and alkyl radicals.     

Mass spectrometric investigation of noncovalent complexation between a tetratosylated resorcarene and alkyl ammonium ions

Noncovalent complexation between tetratosylated tetraethyl resorcarene (1) and primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl ammonium ions (mMe, dMe, tMe, mEt, dEt, tEt, dBu, and dHex) was studied by electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI-FTICR) mass spectrometry. Interactions of the noncovalent complexes were investigated by means of competition experiments, collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments, ion-molecule reactions with tripropylamine and gas phase H/D-exchange reactions with deuteroammonia. Gas phase ion-molecule reactions gave especially valuable information about the structure and properties of the complexes. Resorcarene 1 formed relatively stable 1:1 complexes with all aliphatic alkyl ammonium ions. Steric properties of the alkyl ammonium ions and proton affinities of the conjugate amines noticeably affected the complexation properties, indicating the importance of hydrogen bonding in these complexes. According to the competition experiments, the thermodynamically most stable host-guest complexes were formed with alkyl ammonium ions that were most substituted and had the longest alkyl chains. In CID experiments, release of an intact free guest ion or dissociation of the host was observed to depend on the proton affinity of the amine and the strength of the hydrogen bond that was formed. In ion-molecule reactions with tripropylamine, a guest exchange reaction occurred with all alkyl ammonium ion complexes with reaction rates mostly dependent on the steric properties of the original guest ion. In H/D-exchange reactions the N-H hydrogen atoms of the guest ion were exchanged with deuterium, whereas the resorcinol hydrogen atoms remained unchanged.     

Electron impact and ammonia chemical ionization mass spectra of n-azabicyclo[m.2.0]alkan-(n + 1)-ones (m = 3–6, n = 6–9)

Electron impact induced fragmentation of the title compounds obeys a route where the lactam moiety, OCNH, is cleaved first, with the accompanying formation of a cycloalkene ion. This can be verified by low-resolution, high-resolution, B/E and B²/E spectra as well as by collisional activation spectra of, for example, the ions m/z 82 and 67 from 7-azabicyclo[4.2.0]octan-8-one and from cyclohexene. The only, and fairly weak, fragment ions including O and N are [C₃H₃O]+, [C_kH_2k-2N]⁺ (k = 5–8) and [C₃H₆N]⁺. The ammonia chemical ionization spectra are also characteristic for all four lactams and show the same dominant ions in all cases, namely [M + 1]⁺, [M + 1 + NH₃]⁺˙ and [2 M + 1]⁺˙.