Mass spectra of 2-thioacylaminothiazoles, 2-thioacylaminobenzothiazoles and their ‘fixed structure’ amino and imino tautomeric forms

The fragmentation patterns of the thioacyl derivatives of 2-aminothiazole and 2-aminobenzothiazole and of their ‘fixed structure’ imino and amino tautomeric forms give evidence of the predominance of the imino tautomer in the molecular ions of the trifluorothioacetyl compounds. On the other hand, the M⁺˙ ions of the thioacetyl and thiobenzoyl derivatives are mainly the amino tautomers. A rearrangement with elimination of RCN and formation of the 2-thiazolothione (2-benzothiazolothione) ion is characteristic for ail the compounds investigated. Additional evidence for the interpretation of the main fragmentation paths is provided by the mass spectra of the N-trideuteromethyl and N-deuterated derivatives, high-resolution mass spectrometry being used to determine the elemental composition of some selected peaks.