Sulphonylium ions in the gas phase

Electron impact mass spectrometry was used to investigate the fragmentation of a series of arenesulphonyl chlorides. Sequential losses of a chlorine atom and sulphur dioxide from the molecular ions occurred and the reverse of these reactions had small critical energies that were generally unaffected by the ring substituent. However, an interesting intramolecular cyclization reaction occurring on the ortho-nitro derivative is discussed with the aid of kinetic energy release measurements on this derivative and on a model compound. Appearance energy measure ments combined with multiple scattering Xα calculations led to an estimate of the sulphur-chlorine bond strength in benzenesulphonyl chloride.     

On the origin of the occurrence of “magic numbers” in cluster size distributions of xenon in the compressed gas phase

The formation of clusters in compressed argon and xenon gases is studied with the molecular dynamics simulation technique using two-body Lennard-Jones and three-body Axilrod-Teller potentials. It is suggested that the occurrence of clusters corresponding to the “magic number” n = 13 for xenon and the absence of such stable clusters for argon is due to the dispersion forces that result from triple-dipole interactions.     

Formation of thioacylium ions in the gas phase

A study of the ion chemistry of benzenethioic acid using ion cyclotron resonance techniques shows that a long-lived ion of composition C₇H₅S⁺ is formed from the reaction of the neutral acid with primary fragment ions, m/z 77 (phenyl) and m/z 105 (benzoyl). The product is assigned the thiobenzoyl structure on the basis df its mode of formation from benzoyl cations and tbe neutral acid. Other reactant ions (acetylium and thioacetylium) derived from mixtures of benzenethioic acid with ethanethioic acid or acetate esters similarly lead to thiobenzoyl ions as the major product The significance of these results as support for the thioacetylium structure of C₂H₃S⁺ ions from ethanethioic acid is discussed.     

Elimination reactions of ions in the gas phase

The loss of water from the molecular ion of 2-adamantanol was investigated using specifically labelled deuterium derivatives, and, in particular that stereospecifically labelled in position 4. Water is lost predominantly in a stereospecific 1, 3 fashion by two clearly distinguishable mechanisms. Determination of metastable ion characteristics proved to be essential for drawing this distinction.     

Assigning structures to ions in the gas phase

The purpose of this short review is critically to assess the important experiments in gas phase ion chemistry whose correct interpretation can lead to the assigning of structures to organic positive ions. The methods fall into two main categories, (i) the measurement of ion enthalpies and transition state energies for their fragmentations and (ii) the detailed examination of the unimolecular and collision-induced fragmentation behaviour of cations, anions and neutral species. It is argued that in general, none of the above methods alone can suffice for an ion structure determination, but that in combination these techniques provide a powerful tool by means of which ion structures may confidently be assigned.     

Reactions of ions with molecules in the gas phase

Existing knowledge concerning the gas phase reactions of ions with molecules is summarized in terms of the identification of the reactions, the rate constants of the reactions, and the energetic properties of the ions observed to be formed and of those inferred as intermediates.     

Formation enthalpies of hetaryl ions in the gas phase

Conclusions Photoionization was used to determine the appearance potentials of ions from 2-acetylfuran, 2-acetylthiophene, 2-acetylpyrrole, 2,5-dimethylfuran, 2,5-dimethylthiophene, and 2,5-dimethylpyrrole. The enthalpies of formation were determined for RC0⁺ ions (R=2-furyl, 2-thienyl, and 2-pyrroloyl), pyrilium, and thiopyrilium ions.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 905–907, April, 1988.     

Molecular ions of ionic liquids in the gas phase

Ionic liquids form neutral ion pairs (CA) upon evaporation. The softness of the gas-phase ionization of field ionization has been used to generate "molecular ions," CA(+*), of ionic liquids, most probably by neutralization of the anion. In detail, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-thiocyanate, [C(6)H(11)N(2)](+) [SCN](-), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-tricyanomethide, [C(8)H(15)N(2)](+) [C(4)N(3)](-), N-butyl-3-methylpyridinium-dicyanamide, [C(10)H(16)N](+) [C(2)N(3)](-), and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium-bis[(trifluormethyl)sulfonyl]amide, [C(9)H(20)N](+) [C(2)F(6)NO(4)S(2)](-) were used. The assignment as CA(+*) ions, which has been confirmed by accurate mass measurements and misassignments due to thermal decomposition of the ionic liquids, has been ruled out by field desorption and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of the residues.     

Fluorimetric determination of dissociation constants of aryl-substituted alkylammonium ions

Although the absorption spectra of aryl-substituted alkylammonium ions are insensitive to prototropic dissociation, the fluorescence quantum yields of these ions are often very different from those of their uncharged conjugate bases. This is shown to be the result of different rates of non-radiative deactivation in excited acid and conjugate base and is analytically useful for the determination of pK_a values. The pK_a values of six drugs (procaine, butacaine, benoxinate, cinchonine, propranolol and dibucaine) which are aryl-substituted alkylammonium ions were evaluated fluorimetrically and are presented here.     

Isomerization and fragmentation of methylfuran ions and pyran ions in the gas phase

The mutual interconversion of the molecular ions [C₅H₆O]⁺ of 2-methylfuran (1), 3-methylfuran (2) and 4H-pyran (3) before fragmentation to [C₅H₅O]⁺ ions has been studied by collisional activation spectrometry, by deuterium labelling, by the kinetic energy release during the fragmentation, by appearance energles and by a MNDO calculation of the minimum energy reaction path. The electron impact and collisional activation mass spectra show clearly that the molecular ions of 1–3 do not equilibrate prior to fragmentation, but that mostly pyrylium ions [C₅H₅O]⁺ arise by the loss of a H atom. This implies an irreversible isomerization of methylfuran ions 1 and 2 into pyran ions before fragmentation, in contrast to the isomerization of the related systems toluene ions/cycloheptatriene ions. Complete H/D scrambling is observed in deuterated methylfuran ions prior to the H/D loss that is associated with an iostope effect k_H/k_D = 1.67–2.16 for metastable ions. In contrast, no H/D scrambling has been observed in deuterated 4H-pyran ions. However, the loss of a H atom from all metastable [C₅H₅O]⁺ ions gives rise to a flat-topped peak in the mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectrum and a kinetic energy release (T₅₀) of 26 ± 1.5 kJ mol^?1. The MNDO calculation of the minimum energy reaction path reveals that methylfuran ions 1 and 2 favour a rearrangement into pyran ions before fragmentation into furfuryl ions, but that the energy barrier of the first rearrangement step is at least of the same height as the barrier for the dissociation of pyran ions into pyrylium ions. This agrees with the experimental results.     

Packing of protein structures in clusters with magic numbers

Recently we have proposed a model for folding proteins into packed’ clusters’. We have constructed a local homology measure for protein fold classes by projecting consecutively secondary structures onto a lattice. Taking into account hydrophobic forces we have found a mechanism for formation of clusters containing magic numbers of secondary structures and multipla of these clusters. A scheme for the relation between the sequence information and the native fold is given. We have performed a statistical analysis of available protein structures and found agreement with the predicted preferred abundances. In this paper we demonstrate that the results are robust to variations in the coordination number of the model.     

Cellular nanostructure of gas hydrates

It is found that the hydrates obtained by reaction of liquid water with a hydrate-forming gas have a cellular structure with a cell ∼10^-5 cm in size. At T ∼ 274 K, the thickness of the walls of the methane hydrate cell is ∼10^-7 cm. Formation of the cellular structure is due to a competition between the bulk (difference between chemical potentials, specific energy of elastic deformation) and surface energies. At positive temperatures, monolithic methane hydrate is formed at pressures higher than 6 MPa. Translated fromZhurnal Struktumoi Khimii, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 1103–1107, November–December, 1997.     

Isomerization and fragmentation of methyl benzofuran ions and chromene ions in the gas phase

The rearrangement of the molecular ions of the isomeric 2- and 3-methyl benzofurans (1 and 2), 2H-chromene (3) and 4H-chromene (4) has been studied as a further example of the isomerization of oxygen-heteroaromatic radical cations via a ring expansion/ring contraction mechanism well documented for molecular ions of alkyl benzenes. The ions 1⁺˙?4⁺˙ fragment mainly by H loss into identical chromylium ions a. The process exhibits consistently a large kinetic energy release and an isotope effect k_H/k_D, which arise from a rate-determining energy barrier of the last dissociation step. Differences of the kinetic energy releases, the isotope effects and the appearance energies of the methyl benzofuran ions and the chromene ions indicate a large energy barrier also for the initial hydrogen migration during the rearrangement of the methyl benzofuran ions. This is substantiated by an MNDO calculation of the minimum energy reaction path. In contrast to the behaviour of alkyl benzene ions, a unidirectional isomerization of the methyl benzofuran ions by ring expansion takes place but no mutual interconversion of the molecular ions of methyl benzofurans and chromenes.     

Visible and ultraviolet spectroscopy of gas phase protein ions

Optical spectroscopy has contributed enormously to our knowledge of the structure and dynamics of atoms and molecules and is now emerging as a cornerstone of the gas phase methods available for investigating biomolecular ions. This article focuses on the UV and visible spectroscopy of peptide and protein ions stored in ion traps, with emphasis placed on recent results obtained on protein polyanions, by electron photodetachment experiments. We show that among a large number of possible de-excitation pathways, the relaxation of biomolecular polyanions is mainly achieved by electron emission following photo-excitation in electronically excited states. Electron photodetachment is a fast process that occurs prior to relaxation on vibrational degrees of freedom. Electron photodetachment yield can then be used to record gas phase action spectra for systems as large as entire proteins, without the limitation of system size that would arise from energy redistribution on numerous modes and prevent fragmentation after the absorption of a photon. The optical activity of proteins in the near UV is directly related to the electronic structure and optical absorption of aromatic amino acids (Trp, Phe and Tyr). UV spectra for peptides and proteins containing neutral, deprotonated and radical aromatic amino acids were recorded. They displayed strong bathochromic shifts. In particular, the results outline the privileged role played by open shell ions in molecular spectroscopy which, in the case of biomolecules, is directly related to their reactivity and biological functions. The optical shifts observed are sufficient to provide unambiguous fingerprints of the electronic structure of chromophores without the requirement of theoretical calculations. They constitute benchmarks for calculating the absorption spectra of chromophores embedded in entire proteins and could be used in the future to study biochemical processes in the gas phase involving charge transfer in aromatic amino acids, such as in the mediation of electron transfer or redox reactions. We then addressed the important question of the sensitivity of protein optical spectra to the intrinsic properties of protein ions, including conformation, charge state, etc., and to environmental factors. We report optical spectra for different charge states of insulin, for ubiquitin starting from native and denaturated solutions, and for apo-myoglobin protein. All these spectra are compared critically to spectra recorded in solution, in order to assess solvent effects. We also report the spectra of peptides complexed with metal cations and show that complexation gives rise to new optical transitions related to charge transfer types of excitation. The perspectives of this work include integrative approaches where UV-Vis spectroscopy could, for example, be combined with ion mobility spectrometry and high level calculations for protein structural characterization. It could also be used in spectroscopy to probe biological processes in the gas phase, with different light sources including VUV radiation (to probe different types of excitations) and ultra short pulses with time and phase modulation (to probe and control the dynamics of de-excitation or charge transfer events), and with the derivatization of proteins with chromophores to modulate their optical properties. We also envision that photo-excitation will play an important role in the future to produce intermediates with new chemical and reactive properties. Another promising route is to conduct activated electron photodetachment dissociation experiments.     

Electronic spectroscopy and relaxation of gas phase molecular ions

Techniques for obtaining electronic spectra of singly charged cations are described. Jahn-Teller effects in the spectra of polyhalobenzene cations are discussed. Experimental and theoretical methods for studying radiationless transitions in molecular ions are presented. Recent work on the spectroscopy and intramolecular relaxation of doubly-charged cations is reviewed.     

A new approach in modelling phase equilibria and gas solubility in electrolyte solutions and its applications to gas hydrates

This paper presents a new predictive model for phase equilibria and gas solubility calculations in the presence of electrolyte solutions. It treats salts as pseudo-components in an equation of state (EoS) by defining the critical properties and acentric factor for each salt. The water–salt, gas–salt and salt–salt binary interaction parameters (BIP) have been determined by using available experimental data on freezing point depression and boiling point elevation as well as gas solubility and salt solubility data in saline solutions.The methodology has been applied in modelling sodium chloride, potassium chloride and their mixtures, as well as solubility of methane and carbon dioxide in aqueous single and mixed electrolyte solutions.The developed model is capable of accurately predicting the phase behaviour, gas hydrate stability zone and potential salt precipitation in single and mixed electrolyte solutions. The model predictions are compared with available independent experimental data, including hydrate inhibition characteristics of single and mixed electrolyte solutions, and good agreement is demonstrated.     

Solvation of propanediol ions by water molecules in the gas phase

The thermochemical properties of protonated hydrates of 1,2- and 1,3-propanediols have been investigated using electrospray ionization-high pressure mass spectrometry. The binding enthalpies, entropies, and free energies of the stepwise hydration of protonated propanediols with one to three waters are reported. The observed negative entropy change [ΔΔS_1,3^o for the addition of the third water to 1,3-propanediol·H⁺(H₂O)₂ suggests a stable structure due to an increased number of hydrogen bonds and the loss of the intramolecular hydrogen bond in the water cluster ion. The thermochemical properties of two isomers of butanediol were also investigated in order to further elucidate the structures of the protonated propanediols.     

Polymerization in clusters and in the gas phase using metal ions

Consecutive addition and elimination reactions have been observed following the interaction of Ti⁺ with isobutylene beam expansion. Clusters provide a feasible and valuable approach for understanding the mechanism of ionic polymerization, and how the size of polymer chains is controlled in such a process.