Mass spectra of chlorinated aromatics formed in pulp bleaching 2—Chlorinated guaiacols

The fragmentation of chlorinated guaiacols (2-methoxyphenols) on electron impact has been studied. The most common fragmentation processes are interpreted and in some cases the small differences between spectra of positional isomers are explained. In addition to the well-known alkyl-oxygen fission (loss of methyl radical), metastable ion studies and deuterium labelling have indicated several new fragmentation pathways. The most characteristic are the formation of [M? CH₃? HCl]⁺ and [M? CH₃? Cl]^+· ions. In general, however, the spectra of positional isomers are shown to be very similar.     

Electron impact mass spectra of chlorinated methyl propanoates

The mass spectral fragmentations of all eleven chlorinated methyl propanoates have been studied. Deuterium labelling and metastable ion analysis were used to elucidate the fragmentation mechanism. The molecular ion peaks of all compounds are small, except methyl 3,3-dichloropanoate (38%). In most cases α-cleavage gives the base peak [COOCH₃]⁺, and the loss of a chlorine atom from the molecular ion is characteristic of the 3-chloro, 3,3-dichloro and 3,3,3-trichloro compounds. Metastable ions showed the losses of small neutral molecules such as CH₃OH, CH₂CO, CO₂ and CO from the [M? Cl]⁺ ion. α-Cleavage and the loss of Cl^˙ gives an intense [M? COOCH₃? Cl]^+˙ peak, which is the base peak in the spectra of the 2,3-dichloro and 2,3,3-trichloro compounds.     

Mechanism of CO loss for protonated 1-indanone and isomeric [C9H9O]+ ions

In order to establish the mechanism of CO loss occurring during metastable decomposition of protonated 1-indanone, fragmentations of monocyclic [C₉H₉O]⁺ isomers have been studied. These ions of known structure were prepared by CI protonation and fragmentation of the corresponding acids chlorides. It is demonstrated that the wide component of the [MH? CO]⁺ metastable peak induced by protonated 1-indanone fragmentation is the result of fragmentation of the [C₆H₅CH₂CH₂CO]⁺ isomer ion.     

Fragmentation of acylium ions from methyl levulinate. Isomerization processes involving carbon and oxygen atoms of both carbonyl groups

The fragmentations of the acylium ions O?C⁺? CH₂? CH₂? CO₂CH₃ and O?C⁺? CH₂? CH₂? COCH₃ generated from methyl levulinate are governed extensively by the interaction of the two carbonyl groups. Both species eliminate a molecule of CO unimolecularly and under CID conditions. The results derived from measurements of ¹³C and ¹⁸O labelled precursors, together with kinetic energy release values, have been used to study the mechanisms. In the first of these acylium ions, both carbonyl groups are equivalent; this phenomenon can be the result of a 1,4 methoxy shift. In the second acylium ion, only the oxygen atoms change their positions; this isomerization occurs via the [M? H]⁺ of γ-valerolactone. Some other fragmentation processes also discussed in relation to ²H labelling are the formation of the [M ? COOCH₃] ⁺ ion and the loss of HCOOCH₃ in the collision-induced dissociation mass spectra of the first acylium ion, and the formation of the [CH₃CO]⁺ ion and the loss of H₂O for the second one.     

Fragmentation of certain substituted azadispiro(5.1.5.2)pentadec-9-ene and azadispiro(4.1.4.2)tridec-8-ene derivatives under electron ionization

A study of the electron ionization mass spectra of certain azadispiro(5.1.5.2)pentadec-9-ene-7,15-diones and azadispiro(4.1.4.2)tridec-8-ene-6,13-diones and their derivatives has revealed that these molecules undergo fragmentation primarily by two routes, viz. loss of CO and elimination of the substituent on the pyrrolidine nitrogen. Under positive ionization conditions loss of CO is the predominant process in the diones as it releases the ring strain, while in the 6- or 7-ols loss of the substituent on nitrogen is the favoured pathway. The further decomposition pathways of these primary fragments [M ? CO]⁺˙ and [M ? OR³]⁺ have been delineated with the help of high-resolution mass measurements, D₂O exchange and metastable spectra, These compounds give very simple negative ion spectra showing only [M ? OR³]^? and [NCO]^? ions except the N-hydroxy compounds which show [M ? H]^? ions as well.     

Mass spectra of chlorinated esters: 2—Methyl mono- and dichlorobutanoates

The mass spectral fragmentations of methyl mono- and dichlorobutanates have been studied. Deutrium labelling and metastable ion analysis were used to elucidate the fragmentation mechanisms. The molecular ion peaks of the esters are weak and show only in the spectra of the monochloro isomers. A McLafferty rearrangement gives the base peaks in the spectra of methyl 2-chloro-, 4-chloro- and 4,4-dichlorobutanoate; α-cleavage, [COOCH₃]⁺, in methyl 2,2- and 2,4-dichlorobutanoate; [M? Cl]⁺, in methyl 3-chlorobutanoate; [M? Cl? HCl]⁺, in methyl 3,4-dichlorobutanoate; [M? Cl? CH₂CO]⁺, in methyl 3,3-dichlorobutanoate and [M? Cl? COOCH₃]^+˙, in methyl erythro- and threo-2,3-dichlorobutanoate. The mass spectra of the stereoisomers are nearly identical, the loss of a chlorine atom and the McLafferty rearrangement giving the higher peaks in the spectrum of the threo form.     

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.     

Metastable ion studies. 4—mass spectral fragmentation and isomerization in the esters of chlorinated propenoic acids

Metastable peaks have been used to study the fragmentation pathways of the methyl and trideuteriomethyl chloropropenoates and chloromethyl propenoate. The molecular ion peaks of the unsaturated esters are more intense than those of the saturated esters, α-Cleavage, [M? OCH₃]⁺, produces the base peak in almost all compounds, the relative abundances of the additional peaks being low for chloromethyl propenoate. The losses of H₂O, CH₃^. and COOH^. indicate the isomerization of some ionized chloro esters to the chlorinated 2-butenoic acid molecular ions. An intense loss of H₂O observed for methyl 2-chloropropenoate indicates its most facile isomerization, [ester]^+˙ → [acid]^+˙, whereas the isomerization in methyl trichloropropenoate could not be observed. The molecular ion of chloromethyl propenoate, however, also seems to partly rearrange to the chlorinated 3-butenoic acid ion, since the first field free region metastable peak shows a weak loss of CO. The new reaction pathways, i.e. the losses of CHO^˙, CH₂O and CH₂CO from ionized chloromethyl propenoate, were detected.     

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.     

Mass spectrometry of 3-substituted 4-hydroxyisoquinolines and their derivatives

Under electron impact, 3-aryl-4-hydroxyisoquinolines form [M – H]⁺, [M – CO]⁺ and [M – H – CO]⁺ ions with a subsequent elimination of HCN or CH₃CN. A cyclic structure for the [M – H]⁺ ion is suggested. The primary act of fragmentation of the corresponding methyle ether derivatives is the loss of CH₃?, as well as H?; the further fragmentatio is similar to that described above. It has been established that the unusual [M – H]⁺, [M – OH]⁺ and [M – CH₅?]⁺ ions are formed when 8 fragments. Fragmentation schemes for all compounds are proposed based upon high resolution mass spectra and deuterated analogues.     

Mass spectral fragmentation pattern of 3-(2′-hydroxyethyl)quinolin-2(1H)-one and its derivatives

Fragmentation patterns resulting from electron impact ionization of 3-(2′-hydroxyethyl)quinolin-2(1H)-one, three of its monosubstituted derivatives and four of its disubstituted derivatives were studied. The molecular ion of quinolinone-2-etbanol undergoes initial fragmentation with the loss of OH^·, H₂O, CO, ^·CHO, CH₂O, CH₂OH^·, CH₂?CHOH and HCNO species. The [M – CHO]⁺ ion is tentatively suggested to have been formed by the expulsion of H^· from the [M – CO]^+· ion and the [M - CHO]⁺ peak may be considered as diagnostic of a 2-quinolone-3-ethanol.     

Internal energy effects on metastable characteristics. The structure of [C3H7O]+ ions

The effect of changes in the internal energy distribution of the fragmenting ion on the ratio of metastable ion intensities for two competing fragmentation reactions has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Model calculations have shown that if the competing reactions have significantly different activation energies the metastable intensity ratio does depend on the internal energy distribution although large changes are necessary before the ratio changes by more than a factor of two. Experimentally the metastable characteristics of [C₃H₇O]⁺ ions of nominal structures [CH₃CH₂O⁺?CH₂] (I), [(CH₃)₂C?O⁺H] (II), [CH₃CH₂CH?O⁺H] (III) and [CH₃O⁺?CHCH₃] (IV) have been examined. For each structure the metastable characteristics are found to be distinctive and independent of changes in the internal energy distribution of the fragmenting ion where these changes result from altering the precursor of the [C₃H₇O]⁺ ions. It is suggested that these internal energy changes can be estimated from the fraction of [C₃H₇O]⁺ ions which fragment in the ion-source. It is concluded that structures I to IV represent stable and distinct ionic structures.     

A comparative study on the behaviour of 1,3-diheterocyclopentanes (X = O,O; S,S; O,S) under electron impact. The formation of thioacetyl and thiiranyl cations

The electron-impact-induced mass spectra of 1,3-dioxolane (la), 1,3-dithiolane (2a) and 1,3-oxatbiolane (3a) and their 2-methyl (1b–3b) and 2,2-dimethyl [(CH₃)₂: 1c–3c or (CD₃)₂: 1d–3d] derivatives have been studied in detail to gain further insight into their ion structures and competing reaction pathways with low-resolution, high-resolution, metastable and collision-induced dissociation (CID) techniques. For compounds 1a–1d the most significant reaction is loss of H^˙ and CH₃^˙ by α-cleavage and a subsequent formation of CHO⁺ and C₂H₃O⁺ ions. The [M ? H]⁺ ions from 1a and 1b give a C₂H₃O⁺ ion which does not have the acyl cation structure as shown by their CID spectra. In compounds 3a–3d the sulphur-containing ions predominate, the C₂H₃O⁺ now having the acyl cation structure. 1,3-Dithiolanes (2a–2d) exhibit the most complicated fragmentation patterns. Furthermore the [M ? H]⁺ ion from 2a and [M ? CH₃]⁺ ion from 2b have different structures as well as the [M ? H]⁺ ion from 2b and [M ? CH₃]⁺ ion from 2c, as shown by their CID spectra. This can be utilized to explain why 3a–3c and 2a give principally a thiiranyl cation, whereas 2b gives a mixture of this and the thioacyl cation and 2c practically only the open-chain thioacetyl cation.     

The [CH5NO]+ ˙ potential energy surface: Distonic ions,lon-dipole complexes and hydrogen-bridged radical cations

By combining results from a variety of mass spectrometric techniques (metastable ion, collisional activation, collision-induced dissociative ionization, neutralization-reionization spectrometry, ²H, ¹³C and ¹⁸O isotopic labelling and appearance energy measurements) and high-level ab initio molecular orbital calculations, the potential energy surface of the [CH₅NO]^{+ ˙} system has been explored. The calculations show that at least nine stable isomers exist. These include the conventional species [CH₃ONH₂]^{+ ˙} and [HO? CH₂? NH₂]^{+ ˙}, the distonic ions [O? CH₂? NH₃]^{+ ˙}, [O? NH₂? CH₃]^{+ ˙}, [CH₂? O(H)? NH₂]^{+ ˙}, [HO? NH₂? CH₂]^{+ ˙}, and the ion-dipole complex CH₂?NH₂⁺ …? OH˙. Surprisingly the distonic ion [CH₂? O? NH₃]^{+ ˙} was found not to be a stable species but to dissociate spontaneously to CH₂?O + NH₃^{+ ˙}. The most stable isomer is the hydrogen-bridged radical cation [H? C?O …? H …? NH₃]^{+ ˙} which is best viewed as an immonium cation interacting with the formyl dipole. The related species [CH₂?O …? H …? NH₂]^{+ ˙}, in which an ammonium radical cation interacts with the formaldehyde dipole is also a very stable ion. It is generated by loss of CO from ionized methyl carbamate, H₂N? C(?O)? OCH₃ and the proposed mechanism involves a 1,4-H shift followed by intramolecular ‘dictation’ and CO extrusion. The [CH₂?O …? H …? NH₂]^{+ ˙} product ions fragment exothermically, but via a barrier, to NH₄^{+ ˙} HCO^…? and to H₃N? C(H)?O^{+ ˙} H˙. Metastable ions [CH₃ONH₂]^+…? dissociate, via a large barrier, to CH₂?O + NH₃⁺ + and to [CH₂NH₂]⁺ + OH˙ but not to CH₂?O^{+ ˙} + NH₃. The former reaction proceeds via a 1,3-H shift after which dissociation takes place immediately. Loss of OH˙ proceeds formally via a 1,2-CH₃ shift to produce excited [O? NH₂? CH₃]^{+ ˙}, which rearranges to excited [HO? NH₂? CH₂]^{+ ˙} via a 1,3-H shift after which dissociation follows.     

Characterization of Nα-Fmoc-protected ureidopeptides by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS): differentiation of positional isomers

Four pairs of positional isomers of ureidopeptides, FmocNH‐CH(R₁)‐φ(NH‐CO‐NH)‐CH(R₂)‐OY and FmocNH‐CH(R₂)‐φ(NH‐CO‐NH)‐CH(R₁)‐OY (Fmoc = [(9‐fluorenyl methyl)oxy]carbonyl; R₁ = H, alkyl; R₂ = alkyl, H and Y = CH₃/H), have been characterized and differentiated by both positive and negative ion electrospray ionization (ESI) ion‐trap tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The major fragmentation noticed in MS/MS of all these compounds is due to ? N? CH(R)? N? bond cleavage to form the characteristic N‐ and C‐terminus fragment ions. The protonated ureidopeptide acids derived from glycine at the N‐terminus form protonated (9H‐fluoren‐9‐yl)methyl carbamate ion at m/z 240 which is absent for the corresponding esters. Another interesting fragmentation noticed in ureidopeptides derived from glycine at the N‐terminus is an unusual loss of 61 units from an intermediate fragment ion FmocNH = CH₂⁺ (m/z 252). A mechanism involving an ion‐neutral complex and a direct loss of NH₃ and CO₂ is proposed for this process. Whereas ureidopeptides derived from alanine, leucine and phenylalanine at the N‐terminus eliminate CO₂ followed by corresponding imine to form (9H‐fluoren‐9‐yl)methyl cation (C₁₄H₁₁⁺) from FmocNH = CHR⁺. In addition, characteristic immonium ions are also observed. The deprotonated ureidopeptide acids dissociate differently from the protonated ureidopeptides. The [M ? H]^? ions of ureidopeptide acids undergo a McLafferty‐type rearrangement followed by the loss of CO₂ to form an abundant [M ? H ? Fmoc + H]^? which is absent for protonated ureidopeptides. Thus, the present study provides information on mass spectral characterization of ureidopeptides and distinguishes the positional isomers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Loss of hydroxyl radical from cis- and trans-1-cyclohexyl 2-phenyl-3-benzoylaziridines: A unique eight-centered rearrangement elimination

Following electron impact ionization of the title compounds, a rapid electrocyclic ring opening of the [M]⁺˙ of both isomers occurs. A subsequent fragmentation of each is loss of hydroxyl which occurs by rearrangement to the carbonyl function. Properties of [M? OH]⁺ are in accord with a stable structure for this ion and therefore it is assigned as the 4-phenylisoquinium ion. The proposed mechanism and ion structures are supported by deuterium labeling and defocused metastable ion studies.     

The mechanism of elimination of an H2O molecule in desmethylencecalin under electron impact

The mass spectrum of desmethylencecalin has been measured and a fragmentation mechanism for the loss of a water molecule from the [M? CH₃]⁺ ion is proposed on the basis of isotope labelling and metastable peak observations. The eliminated water has been shown to involve the carbonyl oxygen and hydrogen atoms of the hydroxyl and acetyl groups.     

Characterization of five [C4H7O]+ Ion structures. Fragmentation of the 2-pentanone molecular ion

The [C₄H₇0]⁺ ions [CH₂?CH? C(?OH)CH₃]⁺ (1), [CH₃CH?CH? C(?OH)H]⁺ (2), [CH₂?C(CH₃)C(?OH)H]⁺ (3), [Ch₃CH₂CH₂C?O]⁺ (4) and [(CH₃)₂CHC?O]⁺ (5) have been characterized by their collision-induced dissociation (CID) mass spectra and charge stripping mass spectra. The ions 1–3 were prepared by gas phase protonation of the relevant carbonyl compounds while 4 and 5 were prepared by dissociative electron impact ionization of the appropriate carbonyl compounds. Only 2 and 3 give similar spectra and are difficult to distinguish from each other; the remaining ions can be readily characterized by either their CID mass spectra or their charge stripping mass spectra. The 2-pentanone molecular ion fragments by loss of the C(1) methyl and the C(5) methyl in the ratio 60:40 for metastable ions; at higher internal energies loss of the C(1) methyl becomes more favoured. Metastable ion characteristics, CID mass spectra and charge stripping mass spectra all show that loss of the C(1) methyl leads to formation of the acyl ion 4, while loss of the C(5) methyl leads to formation of protonated vinyl methyl ketone (1). These results are in agreement with the previously proposed potential energy diagram for the [C₅H₁₀O]⁺˙ system.     

Electron-impact fragmentation of aliphatic polynitro compounds

The mass spectra of two series of aliphatic polynitro compounds are reported and discussed. The fragmentation patterns of aliphatic nitro and polynitro compounds are similar in that no appreciable molecular ion current is observed; however, there are several other features in the fragmentation of aliphatic polynitro compounds which differ from that of nitroalkane spectra. Both series of compounds studied-C(NO₂)_x(CH₃)_4?x, where x = 4 to 0 and C₂(NO₂)_x(CH₃)_6?x, where x = 6,4,2-show a decrease in the number and intensity of alkylions with an increase in the NO⁺ and NO₂⁺ ion current as x increases. The main ions resulting from the more nitrated compounds are [NO]⁺, [NO₂]⁺, [CO₂]^+. and [CH₃CO]⁺, whose noncharged counterparts are the principal species produced in the detonation of these compounds. This similarity of the products of the two processes suggests the use of mass spectroscopy for the investigation of the initial explosive processes. The principal fragmentation pathways of the polynitroalkanes have been elucidated by exact mass measurements and the observation of metastable ion transitions.     

Electron impact ionization mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry of phenylalkylpyridazines

The mass spectrometric fragmentation behaviour of pyridazine and four monosubstituted derivatives containing a pbenylalkyl side-chain (3- and 4-benizylpyridazine, 3- and 4-(2-pbenylethyl)pyridazine) was investigated. In the electron impact ionization mess spectra of the 3-substituted compounds abundant [M – H]⁺ peaks are observed. This allows a clear distinction between 3- and 4-substituted pyridazines, as the spectra of the latter isomers show only very weak [M – H]⁺ signals. The stability of [M – H]⁺ ions derived from 3-alkylpyridazines (deduced from only the very low abundance of further fragment ions) gives strong evidence for a cyclic structure of these ions. One fragmentation pathway typical of the parent pyridazine, the [M - N₂] fragmentation, was not detectable with any of the phenylalkylpyridazines investigated. Instead, loss of HCN, H₃CN⁺ and N²H⁺ was observed. An interesting fragmentation, observed with 3-(2-phenylethyl)pyridazine, is the loss of ⁺CH₃ from the molecular ion and also from the [M – H]⁺ ion.