Consecutive reactions in the vitamin D series. A New insight into the mechanism of vitamin D and provitamin D isomerizations in the mass spectrometer

The individual steps of the consecutive reactions arising from metastable molecular ions, derived from vitamin D₃, vitamin D₂ and their respective provitamins (7-dehydrocholesterol, ergosterol), were examined in different field-free regions of a triple-sector mass spectrometer of B/E/E geometry. The comparison of the translational energy release (T) and the metastable peak shapes corresponding to these reactions, as well as unimolecular and collision-induced dissociation mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectra, showed that there are probably two structures of the [M – H₂O]⁺˙ and [M – CH₃˙]⁺ ions depending upon whether the respective ions are formed in the ion source through high-energy reactions, or from the fragmentation of metastable molecular ions through slow, low-energy processes which occur in the first field-free region.     

A mass spectral study of 1-(aryldimethylsilyl)-2-propanones and their isomeric 2-(aryldimethylsiloxy)-1-propenes

The mass spectra of a series of β-ketosilanes, p-Y? C₆H₄Me₂SiCH₂C(O)Me and their isomeric silyl enol ethers, p-Y? C₆H₄Me₂SiOC(CH₃)?CH₂, where Y = H, Me, MeO, Cl, F and CF₃, have been recorded. The fragmentation patterns for the β-ketosilanes are very similar to those of their silyl enol ether counterparts. The seven major primary fragment ions are [M? Me·]⁺, [M? C₆H₄Y·]⁺, [M? Me₂SiO]⁺˙, [M? C₃H₄]⁺˙, [M? HC?CCF₃]⁺˙, [Me₂SiOH]⁺˙ and [C₃H₆O]⁺˙ Apparently, upon electron bombardment the β-ketosilanes must undergo rearrangement to an ion structure very similar to that of the ionized silyl enol ethers followed by unimolecular ion decompositions. Substitutions on the benzene ring show a significant effect on the formation of the ions [M? Me₂SiO]⁺˙ and [Me₂SiOH]⁺˙, electron donating groups favoring the former and electron withdrawing groups favoring the latter. The mass spectral fragmentation pathways were identified by observing metastable peaks, metastable ion mass spectra and ion kinetic energy spectra.     

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.     

Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and fragmentation of aminomonosaccharides in H2O and D2O

Aminomonosaccharides (glucosamine, galactosamine, and mannosamine) in H₂O and D₂O were ionized by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and their fragmentation patterns were investigated to identify them. All the aminomonosaccharides showed the same fragment ions but their relative ion intensities were different. Major product ions generated in H₂O were [M + H]⁺, [M + H – H₂O]⁺, and [2M + H – 3H₂O]⁺, while in D₂O were [M_D6 + D]⁺, [M_D6 + D – D₂O]⁺, and [2M_D6 + D – D₂O – 2HDO]⁺. At a high fragmentor voltage above 120 V, the relative ion intensities of the major product ions showed different trends according to the aminomonosaccharides. For the use of H₂O as solvent and eluent, the order of the ion intensity ratio of [M + H – H₂O]⁺/[2M + H – 3H₂O]⁺ was galactosamine > mannosamine > glucosamine. When using D₂O as solvent and eluent, the order of the ion intensity ratios of [M_D6 + D – D₂O]⁺/[M_D6 + D]⁺ and [2M_D6 + D – D₂O – 2HDO]⁺/[M_D6 + D]⁺ was mannosamine > galactosamine > glucosamine. It was found that glucosamine, galactosamine, and mannosamine could be distinguished by the specific trends of the major product ion ratios in H₂O and D₂O. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Barrier to 1,3-sigmatropic shift in odd electron ions. A MINDO/3 study of H,OH, CH3 and C6H5 migration

Critical energies for 1,3-R sigmatropic migrations (R?H, OH, CH₃ and C₆H₅) have been calculated by means of the MINDO/3 method. This investigation was carried out for the system [RCH₂CH?CH₂]^+˙ and the results indicated that hydroxyl group migration is energetically favoured (critical energy = 53 kJ mol^?1). Calculations are also presented for [3-buten-2-ol]^+˙ isomerizations. The lowest energy pathway is related to the [2-buten-1-ol]^+˙; the corresponding critical energy for OH migration is equal to 33 kJ mol^?1 in this case.     

Rearrangement reactions of 2-nitrothiobenzamides upon electron impact

The decomposing molecular cations derived from (substituted) 2-nitrothiobenzamides fragment by complex rearrangement reactions. When the alkyl substituents (R) attached to N are methyl, the major fragmentations are [M]⁺˙ → [M? SO]^+˙ and [M? SO]^+˙ → [(M? SO)^+˙–R˙]⁺. This remains a basic pathway when R ? Et, but other rearrangements are also observed. For example, when R=Et, additional competitive processes are [M]^+˙ → [M? HO˙]⁺ and [M]^+˙ → [M? C₂H₄O]⁺˙.     

Low-energy,low-temperature mass spectra. 5-alkanals

The low-energy, low-temperature mass spectra of thirteen alkanals are reported and their predominant modes of fragmentation discussed in terms of energetics. Characteristic of this class of compounds is the very high proportion of odd-electron ions in the mass spectra, namely [M ? C_MH_2m]^+˙, [M ? H₂O]^+˙ and [M ? H₂O ? C_mH_2m]^+˙.     

Formation and structure of [C8H8O]+˙ ions,generated from gas phase ions of phenyl-cyclopropylcarbinol and 1-phenyl-1-(hydroxymethyl)cyclopropane

The structure and formation of [C₈H₈O]^+. ions generated from phenylcyclopropylcarbinol and 1-phenyl-1-hydroxymethylcyclopropane upon electron impact, have been studied using kinetic energy release measurements, by determination of ionization and appearance energies and by collisional activation. It is shown that the non-decomposing [C₈H₈O]^+˙ ions have exclusively the structure of the enol ion of phenylacetaldehyde, although it is less stable than the enol ion of acetophenone by about 45 kJ mol^?1. This has been interpreted as an indication that the [C₈H₈O]^+˙ ions from phenylcyclopropylcarbinol are formed by an attack of either the phenyl ring or the hydroxyl group upon the C-1? C-2 (or C-1? C-3) bond of the cyclopropane ring under a simultaneous expulsion of ethene and migration of the attacking group to the C-1 position. The [C₈H₈O]^+˙ ion from 1-phenyl-1-(hydroxymethyl)cyclopropane is formed by opening of the cyclopropane ring via a benzylic cleavage. A kinetically controlled hydrogen shift in the resulting ring opened ion prior to or during ethene loss then leads to the formation of [C₈H₈O]^+˙ ions which have the structure of the enol ion of phenylacetaldehyde.     

Isomeric [C,H3,N,O]+˙ ions and their neutral counterparts

The isomeric ions [H₂NC(H)O]⁺˙, [H₂NCOH]⁺˙, [H₃CNO]⁺˙ and [H₂CNOH]⁺˙ were examined in the gas phase by mass spectrometry. Ab initio molecular orbital theory was used to calculate the relative stabilities of [H₂NC(H)O]⁺˙, [H₂NCOH]⁺˙, [H₃NCO]⁺˙ and their neutral counterparts. Theory predicted [H₂NC(H)O]⁺˙ to be the most stable ion. [H₂NCOH]⁺˙ ions were generated via a 1,4-hydrogen transfer in [H₂NC(O)OCH₃]⁺˙, [H₂NC(O)C(O)OH]⁺˙ and [H₂NC(O)CH₂CH₃]⁺˙. Its metastable dissociation takes place via [H₃NCO]⁺˙ with the isomerization as the rate-determining step. [H₂CNOH]⁺˙ undergoes a rate-determining isomerization into [H₃CNO]⁺˙ prior to metastable fragmentation. Neutralization-reionization mass spectrometry was used to identify the neutral counterparts of these [H₃,C,N,O]⁺˙ ions as stable species in the gas phase. The ion [H₃NCO]⁺˙ was not independently generated in these experiments; its neutral counterpart was predicted by theory to be only weakly bound.     

The unimolecular chemistry of [1,2-propanediol]+˙: a rationale in terms of hydrogen-bridged radical cations

By combining results from a variety of mass spectrometric techniques (metastatle ion, collisional activation, collision-induced dissociative ionization, neutralization–reionization spectrometry and appearance energy measurements) and the classical method of isotopic labelling, a unified mechanism is proposed for the complex unimolecular chemistry of ionized 1,2-propanediol. The key intermediates involved are the stable hydrogen-bridged radical cations [CH₂?C(H)? H…?O…?O(H)CH₃]⁺˙, which were generated independently from [4-methoxy, 1-butanol]⁺˙ (loss of C₂H₄) and [1-methoxyglycerol]⁺˙ (loss of CH₂O), [CH₃? C?O…?H…?O(H)CH₃]⁺˙ and the related ion-dipole complex [CH₂?C(OH)CH₃/H₂O]⁺˙. The latter species serves as the precursor for the loss of CH³˙ and in this reaction the same non-ergodic behaviour is observed as in the loss of CH³˙ from the ionized enol of acetone.     

Loss of methyl from [H2CC(OH)?CH3]+˙ ions prepared by electron impact ionization of unstable 2-hydroxypropene

Unstable 2-hydroxpropene was prepared by retro-Diels-Alder decomposition of 5-exo-methyl-5-norbornenol at 800°C/2 × 10^?6 Torr. The ionization energy of 2-hydroxypropene was measured as 8.67±0.05 eV. Formation of [C₂H₃O]⁺ and [CH₃]⁺ ions originating from different parts of the parent ion was examined by means of ¹³C and deuterium labelling. Threshold-energy [H₂C?C(OH)? CH₃]^+˙ ions decompose to CH₃CO⁺+CH₃^˙ with appearance energy AE(CH₃CO⁺) = 11.03 ± 0.03 eV. Higher energy ions also form CH₂?C?OH⁺ + CH₃ with appearance energy AE(CH₂?C?OH⁺) = 12.2–12.3 eV. The fragmentation competes with hydrogen migration between C(1) and C(3) in the parent ion. [C₂H₃O]⁺ ions containing the original methyl group and [CH₃]⁺ ions incorporating the former methylene and the hydroxyl hydrogen atom are formed preferentially, compared with their corresponding counterparts. This behaviour is due to rate-determining isomerization [H₂C?C(OH)? CH₃]^+˙ →[CH₃COCH₃]^+˙, followed by asymmetrical fragmentation of the latter ions. Effects of internal energy and isotope substitution are discussed.     

Mass spectra of aliphatic dicarboxylic acids and their dimethyl esters: Cyclic structures for the [M − H2O]+˙ ions from the diacids and [M − MeOH]+˙ ions from the dimethyl esters

Methyl 2-oxocycIoalkane carboxylate structures are proposed lor the [M ? MeOH]^+˙ ions from dimethyl adipate, pimelate, suberate and azelate. This proposal is based on a comparison of the metastable ion mass spectra and the kinetic energy releases for the major fragmentation reaction of these species with the same data for the molecular ions of authentic cyclic β-keto esters. The mass spectra of α,α,α′,α′-d₄-pimelic acid and its dimethyl ester indicate that the α-hydrogens are involved only to a minor extent in the formation of [M ? ROH]^+˙ and [M ? 2ROH]^+˙ ions, while these α-hydrogens are involved almost exclusively in the loss of ROH from the [M ? RO˙]⁺ ions (R = H or CH₃). The molecules XCO(CH₂)₇COOMe (X = OH, Cl) form abundant ions in their mass spectra with the same structure as the [M ? 2MeOH]^+˙ ions from dimethyl azelate.     

Reactions of aliphatic aldehydes under electron-impact

The mass spectra of hexanal, heptanal and nonanal variously labeled with deuterium confirm γ-hydrogen migration and β cleavage as the mechanism leading to [C₂H₄O]⁺˙ and [M ? C₂H₄O]⁺˙, although the data on the latter are complicated by contributions from other, related paths. In addition, they show that three other major primary decomposition products, [M ? C₂H₄]⁺˙, [M ? H₂O]⁺˙ and [C₃H₅O]⁺, all arise in large part by processes involving γ-hydrogen migration to the oxygen atom. The ethylene lost to yield the first of these products consists of the α and β methylene groups. The loss of ethylene most likely occurs by way of a cyclobutanol intermediate, which, via alternative reaction paths, may well contribute to the yields of the other two products as well. These findings further extend the range of parallelism between photochemical and electron-impact-induced reactions.     

Alkane elimination from ionized alkanols

The energetics, metastable characteristics and daughter ion structures for the loss of small alkane molecules from ionized 2-propanol, 2-butanol and 3-pentanol have been examined in detail. [2-Propanol]^+˙ ions lose CH₄ to generate the keto and enol forms of [C₂H₄O]^+˙ and the same daughter ions are produced by loss of C₂H₆ from [2-butanol]^+˙. Ionized 3-pentanol does not lose CH₄ but readily eliminates C₂H₆ to produce the enol ion [CH₃CH?CHOH]^+˙. The last reaction was shown to proceed by a simple 1,2 elimination mechanism in the μs time-frame; isotope effects are also discussed.     

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.     

Evaluation of nitric oxide chemical ionization mass spectra of substituted benzenes

Nitric oxide chemical ionization mass spectra of substituted benzenes obtained with the Townsend discharge technique were studied. There were four kinds of base peaks in the mass spectra, i.e. [M + NO]⁺˙, M⁺˙, [M ? H]⁺ and [M ? OR]⁺ (R = H, CH₃). The formation of the specific ion [M + NO]⁺˙ was highly dependent on the kind of substituent, and it was produced more abundantly in the case of substitutions involving electron-accepting groups. The measure of [M + NO]⁺˙ production was evaluated from the value of the ratio [M + NO]⁺˙/M⁺˙. In mono-substitutions, it was clarified that the ratios of [M + NO]⁺˙/M ⁺˙ were correlated with the Hammett substituent constant s?_p or the electrophilic substituent constant s?_p⁺. Monosubstitutions (C₆H₅R) and toluene substitutions (CH₃C₆H₄R) could be classified into six groups in terms of base peak species, [M + NO]⁺˙/M⁺˙ ratios and substituents. In disubstitutions, the mass spectral patterns were governed by the combination of substituents. Mass spectral distinctions among ortho, meta and para isomers could be made in many cases.     

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.     

Mass spectra of ethenol and its deutero analogues

Ethenol, 1-d-ethenol, O-d-ethenol and Z-2-d-ethenol were prepared by pyrolysis of corresponding 5-norbornenols at 800^°C/2 × 10^?6 Torr. The most important fragments in the electron impact mass spectrum of ethenol are [C₂H₃O]⁺ and CHO⁺ and CH₃˙. The hydrogen atom eliminated from the molecular ion comes mainly from the hydroxyl group (68%) and to a lesser extent from C(1) (25%) and C(2) (7%). The loss of the hydroxyl hydrogen is preceded by rate-determining migration of the hydrogen atom from C(1) onto C(2) to yield CH₃C?OH⁺˙ions that decompose to CH₃CO⁺ and H˙. The loss of deuterium from O-d-ethenol shows a very small primary isotope effect (k_H/k_D=1.07), whereas a significant effect is observed for the loss of hydrogen from 1-d-ethenol (k_H/k_D=1.28). The appearance energy of [C₂H₂DO]⁺ from 1-d-ethenol, AE=11.32 eV, gives a critical energy for the hydrogen loss, E=203 kJ mol^?1, which is 90 kJ mol^?1 above the thermochemical threshold for CH₃CO⁺+H˙. The appearance energy of CDO⁺ from 1-d-ethenol was measured as 12.96±0.07 eV, which sets the barrier to isomerization to CH₃CDO⁺˙ at 1121 kJ mol^?1. The ionization energy of ethenol was found to be 9.22±0.03 eV.     

The dynamical theory of energy partition. Loss of a hydrogen atom from the hydroxymethylene radical cation

The translational energy releases accompanying fromation of H^˙ and [CHO]⁺ from [CHOH]^+˙, H^˙ and [CDO]⁺ from [CDOH]^+˙, D^˙ and [CHO]⁺ from [CHOD]^+˙ and D^˙ and [CDO]⁺ from [CDOD]^+˙ have been calculated from the widths at half-height of the respective metastable peaks. The energy releases for [CHOD]^+˙ and [CDOD]^+˙ are similar to each other in magnitude, but are both significantly larger than those for [CHOH]^+˙ and [CDOH]^+˙. These differences are discussed in terms of the dynamical theory of energy partition. The larger energy releases for decompositions giving D^˙ are attributed to larger proportions of the kinetic energy being associated with the departing D^˙ in the transition states, as compared to H^˙ in the transition states for the decompositions yielding H^˙.     

Ion-molecule reactions observed for nitroaromatic compounds in negative ion fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

Analyses of a series of nitroaromatic compounds using fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometry are discussed. An interesting ion-molecule reaction leading to [M + O ? H]^? ions is observed in the negative ion FAB spectra. Evidence from linked-scan and collision-induced dissociation spectra proved that [M + O ? H]^? ions are produced by the following reaction: M + NO₂^? → [M + NO₂]^? → [M + O ? H]^?. These experiments also showed that M^?˙ ions are produced in part by the exchange of an electron between M and NO₂^? species. All samples showed M^?˙, [M ? H]^? or both ions in their negative ion FAB spectra. Not all analytes studied showed either [M + H]⁺ and/or M⁺˙ in the positive ion FAB spectra. No M⁺˙ ions were observed for ions having ionization energies above ～9 eV.