Kinetics of Surface-Induced Dissociation of N(CH3) 4 + and N(CD3) 4 + Using Silicon Nanoparticle Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization and Laser Desorption/Ionization

The implementation of surface-induced dissociation (SID) to study the fast dissociation kinetics (sub-microsecond dissociation) of peptides in a MALDI TOF instrument has been reported previously. Silicon nanoparticle assisted laser desorption/ionization (SPALDI) now allows the study of small molecule dissociation kinetics for ions formed with low initial source internal energy and without MALDI matrix interference. The dissociation kinetics of N(CH₃)₄⁺ and N(CD₃)₄⁺ were chosen for investigation because the dissociation mechanisms of N(CH₃)₄⁺ have been studied extensively, providing well-characterized systems to investigate by collision with a surface. With changes in laboratory collision energy, changes in fragmentation timescale and dominant fragment ions were observed, verifying that these ions dissociate via unimolecular decay. At lower collision energies, methyl radical (CH₃) loss with a sub-microsecond dissociation rate is dominant, but consecutive H loss after CH₃ loss becomes dominant at higher collision energies. These observations are consistent with the known dissociation pathways. The dissociation rate of CH₃ loss from N(CH₃)₄⁺ formed by SPALDI and dissociated by an SID lab collision energy of 15 eV corresponds to log k = 8.1, a value achieved by laser desorption ionization (LDI) and SID at 5 eV. The results obtained with SPALDI SID and LDI SID confirm that (1) the dissociation follows unimolecular decay as predicted by RRKM calculations; (2) the SPALDI process deposits less initial energy than LDI, which has advantages for kinetics studies; and (3) fluorinated self-assembled monolayers convert about 18% of laboratory collision energy into internal energy. SID TOF experiments combined with SPALDI and peak shape analysis enable the measurement of dissociation rates for fast dissociation of small molecules.     

Methanol Adsorption on TiO2 Film Studied by Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy (cited:2)

A broadband infrared surface sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG-VS) and an in situ UV excitation setup devoted to studying surface photocatalysis have been constructed. With a home-made compact high vacuum cell, organic contaminants on TiO₂ thin lm surface prepared by RF magnetron sputtering were in situ removed under 266 nm irradiation in 10 kPa O₂ atmosphere. We obtained the methanol spectrum in the CH₃ stretching vibration region on TiO₂ surface with changing the methanol pressure at room temperature. Features of both molecular and dissociative methanol, methoxy, adsorbed on this surface were resolved. The CH₃ symmetric stretching vibration frequency and Fermi resonance of molecular methanol is red-shifted by about 6?8 cm^-1 from low to high coverage. Moreover, the recombination of dissociative methanol and H on surfaces in vacuum was also observed. Our results suggest two equilibria exist: between molecular methanol in the gas phase and that on surfaces, and between molecular methanol and dissociative methanol on surfaces.     

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of components of pyridine temperature-programmed desorption spectra from surface of copper-supported catalysts

The method of pyridine temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) was applied for the measurement of acid properties of in situ reduced copper catalysts on silicate support. A thermal-conductivity detector (TCD) was used for the detection of TPD spectra of pyridine. The combination of flame-ionization detector and thermal conductivity detector shows that the region of TPD spectrum with the peak maxima T_MAX1 = 350 °C is a superposition of the TCD response on spectra of desorbed pyridine, water and carbon dioxide, desorbing simultaneously from the catalyst surface. The method for the elimination of H₂O and CO₂ on the layer of NaOH was tested and the pure TPD spectrum of pyridine was obtained. The exact determination of pyridine concentration allows to estimate the amount of weak and medium acid centers of the catalyst. The gas chromatography with the mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) analyses was used for the interpretation of high temperature region of the pyridine TPD spectra (T_MAX2 = 620 °C). It was found that pyridine bonded on the strong acid centers is decomposed to N₂ and CO under very high temperature. The available chromatographic method for the separation of components present in pyridine TPD spectrum in the high-temperature region was suggested. The method for the quantification of strong acidity of copper-supported catalyst was found.     

Metastable dissociation dynamics of molecular cluster ions

Metastable uni-cluster dissociation for several hydrogen-bonded and van der Waals cluster ions are observed via resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization reflectron time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. All of the cluster ions studied show evaporation of a single molecule from the respective parent cluster ions as dominant metastable decay processes. Furthermore, the averaged metastable evaporation rate constants (k _evap) of these cluster ions in a fixed time domain of 0.2–50 µs are obtained by analyzing the relative intensity of metastable ion peaks due to evaporation in the acceleration and the field-free drift regions of the TOF mass spectrometer. An intensity anomaly in some of the observed metastable ion peaks, indicative of magic number stability of the cluster ion, is also presented.     

Reactive landing of gas-phase ions as a tool for the fabrication of metal oxide surfaces for in situ phosphopeptide enrichment

Zirconium, titanium, and hafnium oxide-coated stainless steel surfaces are fabricated by reactive landing of gas-phase ions produced by electrospray ionization of group IVB metal alkoxides. The surfaces are used for in situ enrichment of phosphopeptides before analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. To evaluate this method we characterized ZrO₂ (zirconia) surfaces by (1) comparison with the other group IVB metal oxides of TiO₂ (titania) and HfO₂ (hafnia), (2) morphological characterization by SEM image analysis, and (3) dependence of phosphopeptide enrichment on the metal oxide layer thickness. Furthermore, we evaluated the necessity of the reactive landing process for the construction of useful metal oxide surfaces by preparing surfaces by electrospray deposition of Zr, Ti, and Hf alkoxides directly onto polished metal surfaces at atmospheric pressure. Although all three metal oxide surfaces evaluated were capable of phosphopeptide enrichment from complex peptide mixtures, zirconia performed better than hafnia or titania as a result of morphological characteristics illustrated by the SEM analysis. Metal oxide coatings that were fabricated by atmospheric pressure deposition were still capable of in situ phosphopeptide enrichment, although with inferior efficiency and surface durability. We show that zirconia surfaces prepared by reactive landing of gas-phase ions can be a useful tool for high throughput screening of novel phosphorylation sites and quantitation of phosphorylation kinetics.     

Photoelectron spectroscopic study of simple hydrogen-bonded dimers. I. Supersonic nozzle beam photoelectron spectrometer and the formic-acid dimer

In this paper we describe several characteristics of our supersonic nozzle beam photoelectron spectrometer recently constructed for studying hydrogen-bonded dimers in the gas phase by HeI (58.4 nm) radiation. Using this photoelectron apparatus, we have reinvestigated the HeI photoelectron spectrum of the formic-acid dimer (HCOOH)₂ which is well known as a fairly strong doubly hydrogen-bonded dimer. It was found that the (HCOOH)₂ spectrum deduced here from the spectrum of the monomer—dimer mixture considerably differs from that reported by Carnovale et al. in the region beyond 16.5 eV. New spectral assignments are given for four ionization bands beyond 16.5 eV. It is also indicated that the lower bound of the dissociation energy of (HCOOH)₂⁺ is estimated to be 1.0 ± 0.1 eV from the threshold of the dimer band (11.0 eV) obtained in this experiment. This value is considerably smaller than the value of 1.7 ± 0.2 eV recently reported for the water dimer cation (H₂O)₂⁺.     

Sub-picosecond laser ionization of free C60 and C70 at 248 nm

Delayed ionization is found to be absent for sub-picosecond laser excitation of free C₆₀ and C₇₀ at 248 nm. The autocorrelation trace obtained for C ₆₀ ⁺ in a laser time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer using two time-delayed and collinear 248 nm ultrashort laser pulses has a width of 1.1 ps (715 fs for sech² pulses), in agreement with the laser pulse duration measurement in NO gas. Both above observations can be explained by direct ionization of C₆₀ via coherent two-photon absorption by the high intensity sub-picosecond 248 nm laser excitation avoiding the channel leading to delayed ionization.     

Determinations of Intermediate Neutral Species in Hydrocarbon Discharge Plasma

This work reports laser ionization combined with Time-Of-Flight (TOF) mass spectrometry investigation on intermediate species in the hydrocarbon plasma of atmospheric-pressure fast-flow pulsed dc-discharge. All neutral intermediate species including transient radicals from benzene/Ar discharge have been characterized by a molecular beam sampling combined with TOF mass spectrometry. This shows that with a hydrocarbon gas mixture of 0.3% C₆H₆ in Ar discharge the intermediate species consist of simple radicals (such as C₂, C₅H₅, C₇H₇) and polycyclic organic molecules (C₁₀H₈, C₁₃H₁₀, C₁₄H₁₀). Theoretical studies on total energies and ionization potentials of the intermediate species have been carried out using the hybrid density functional theory. Effect of the ionization potential on mass spectral intensity has been discussed. Based on the observed data, the possible major neutral reaction channels of the plasma chemistry have been discussed. The developed experimental method has implications in volatile organic compounds removing and impurities diagnosis in Tokamak edge-plasma.     

Benchmarking the accuracy of coverage-dependent models: adsorption and desorption of benzene on Pt (1 1 1) and Pt3Sn (1 1 1) from first principles

Bimetallic catalysts have demonstrated properties favorable for upgrading biofuel through catalytic hydrodeoxygenation. However, the design and optimization of such bimetallic catalysts requires the ability to construct accurate, predictive models of these systems. To generate a model that predicts the kinetic behavior of benzene adsorbed on Pt (1 1 1) and a Pt₃Sn (1 1 1) surface alloy (Pt₃Sn (1 1 1)), the adsorption of benzene was studied for a wide range of benzene coverages on both surfaces using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The adsorption energy of benzene was found to correlate linearly with benzene coverage on Pt (1 1 1) and Pt₃Sn (1 1 1); both surfaces exhibited net repulsive lateral interactions. Through an analysis of the d-band properties of the metal surface, it was determined that the coverage dependence is a consequence of the electronic interactions between benzene and the surface. The linear coverage dependence of the adsorption energy allowed us to quantify the influence of the lateral interactions on the heat of adsorption and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) spectra using a mean-field model. A comparison of our simulated TPD to experiment showed that this mean-field model adequately reproduces the desorption behavior of benzene on Pt (1 1 1) and Pt₃Sn (1 1 1). In particular, the TPD correctly exhibits a broadening desorption peak as the initial coverage of benzene increases on Pt (1 1 1) and a low temperature desorption peak on Pt₃Sn (1 1 1). However, due to the sensitivity of the TPD peak temperature to the desorption energy, precise alignment of experimental and theoretical TPD spectra demands an accurate calculation of the adsorption energy. Therefore, an analysis of the effect of the exchange-correlation functional on TPD modeling is presented. Through this work, we show the necessity of incorporating lateral interactions into theoretical models in order to correctly predict experimental behavior.     

Methanol adsorption on γ-irradiated SiO2 surface

The adsorption of methanol on γ-irradiated and un-irradiated SiO₂ surfaces pretreated at 473 K was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and pulse methods. Methanol adsorbed only in molecular form on the un-irradiated sample. Treating the pre-irradiated silica surface with methanol at room temperature formaldehyde and hydrogen were formed. The methanol adsorbed on the irradiated silica transformed to formyl groups during a longer time at room temperature and desorbed as formaldehyde simultaneously with CH₃OH (T_max=395 K) on the TPD.     

Comparative studies of the behavior of neutral and ionic ferrocene derivatives under different conditions of electrospray ionization

We have studied the behavior of ferrocene CpFeCp (FcH), ferrocenium triiodide [FcH]⁺I₃⁻, dimethylaminomethylferrocene FcCH₂NMe₂ and its trimethylammonium salt [FcCH₂NMe₃]⁺I⁻ under the conventional conditions of electrospray ionization (ESI), when the substance solution is subjected to spraying, and in two versions of desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), when the sprayed solvent bombards the surface of solid or liquid samples. In addition to these techniques, the behavior of neutral compounds under conditions of electrospray ionization of vapors of the studied compounds in a gas phase (ESI_V) has been investigated. It has been shown using the examples of ferrocene and its dimethylaminomethyl derivative that the detection limits for these compounds occurring in a gas phase are comparable within an order of magnitude with their detection limits under the ESI and DESI conditions of solid and liquid samples. The high effectiveness of ionization of analyte vapors makes it possible to use the ESI method not only in combination with liquid (conventional ESI technology) and thin layer chromatography (DESI), but also with gas liquid chromatography (ESI_V). Thus, the electrospray ionization becomes a universal method allowing studies of a compound under the natural conditions in any state of aggregation, that is, solid, liquid, and gas. With the help of statistical methods for designing experiments (complete factorial experiment), quantitative evaluation of the influence of experimental parameters on the ion-formation processes under different ESI conditions has been carried out, which makes it possible to purposefully select the optimal conditions to record the ESI mass spectra with a minimum number of experiments. Moreover, analysis of the dependences of the mass spectra on the experimental parameters can serve as an instrument for studying the details of the ion-formation mechanisms depending upon different ways of ionization.     

VUV and photoelectronic spectra of methylstannane. Theoretical and experimental approach

The vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and photoelectron spectra of SnH₃CH₃ were recorded between 6.20 and 11.28 eV and between 8 and 17 eV, respectively. Spectra were interpreted using ab initio CI calculations. The photoelectron spectrum confirmed the low SnC bond energy. The first two ionization potentials (IP) observed were attributed to the ionization of the a₁ (10.65 eV) and e orbitals (11.15 and 11.60 eV, split by the Jahn-Teller effect), thereby showing an inversion of IPs compared with ethane. Similarly, the first two bands of the VUV spectrum (at 7.04 and 7.72–8.16 eV) were attributed to a₁ and e transitions towards the Rydberg s orbital. A splitting of the same order of magnitude as that of the photoelectron spectrum could be noted in the E state. Observed transitions between 8.65 and 10 eV showed a strong interaction between the Rydberg p MO and the σ^*_SnC antibonding orbital. Primarilyvalence transitions were encountered beyond 10 eV.     

Adsorption of oxygen-containing aromatics used in petrochemical,pharmaceutical and food industries by means of lignin based active carbons

The adsorption processes of three aromatic chemicals onto activated carbons (ACs) from aqueous solutions have been studied. Eucalyptus kraft lignin obtained from cellulose industry as a residual biomass has been used to prepare activated carbons by physical activation with CO₂. The influences of the activation time on the surface areas and pore volumes of the ACs were analyzed. The physicochemical properties and the surface chemical structure of the adsorbents have been studied by means of N₂ and CO₂ adsorption, ultimate analysis, XPS, TPD and SEM. XPS and TPD spectra of the ACs have suggested the presence of aromatic rings and carbon-oxygen functional groups in the solid surfaces. The potential use of the ACs for the removal of acetaminophen (paracetamol), salicylic acid and benzoic acid has been investigated at different pH, temperature and contact time. The adsorption equilibrium data have been correlated to Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamic study has been developed, the values of ΔH, ΔG, and ΔS have been calculated and they indicated that the processes are endothermic for acetaminophen and exothermic for salicylic and benzoic acids. The analysis of the kinetic experiments showed that the effective diffusivities are low; 10⁻¹² to 10⁻¹¹ cm²/s, and they are the corresponding to intraparticle mass transfer, which appears as the controlling step for the net adsorption processes.     

Kinetics and mechanisms of the oxidation of sulfur dioxide over titanium dioxide and nickel oxide

The reactions between SO₂ and O₂ were carried out in the presence of TiO₂ and NiO under various partial pressures of SO₂ and O₂ at temperatures from 240 to 330°C. TiO₂ and NiO were pretreated by applying an annealing effect from which the catalysts would have the different activity. The rates are the highest for TiO₂ pretreated at high temperature in the region of 400 to 600deg;C in vacuum, 1.21 × 10^?4 mmHg. In contrast, the rates are the lowest for NiO pretreated at high temperaturefrom 350 to 550°C. The data have been correlated with 1.4 and first-order kinetics for TiO₂ and NiO, respectively. A reaction mechanism to explain the data was suggested. The quantities of anionic vacancies in TiO₂ surfaces and of positive holes in NiO appeared to be paramount in determining the type of kinetics.     

Radiofrequency field enhanced chemical ionization with vacuum ultraviolet lamp for miniature time-of-flight mass spectrometer

Radiofrequency field enhanced chemical ionization enhances the sensitivity of benzene, toluene, hydrogen sulfide and other compounds by 2–3 orders of magnitude and expanded the detection range of the compounds with ionization energy from 10.6 eV to 12.0 eV.     

A high performance low magnetic field internal electrospray ionization-fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer

A new in-magnetic field electrospray ionization (ESI) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer has been constructed and evaluated. This system is characterized by the use of multiple concentric cryopanels to achieve ultrahigh vacuum in the ion cyclotron resonance cell region, a probe-mounted internal ESI source, and a novel in-field shutter. Initial experiments demonstrate high resolution mass measurement capability at a field strength of 1 T. Mass resolution of 700,000 has been obtained for the 3+ charge state of Met-Lys-bradykinin (at m/z 440) generated by electrospray ionization. When electron impact ionization was employed, resolution in excess of 9,200,000 was achieved for nitrogen molecular ions (N ₂ ⁺ ). Isotopic resolution for molecular ions of bovine ubiquitin (MW=8565 µ) also was achieved by using small ion populations.     

A new thermobalance for studies of the high-temperature sulphidation of metals and alloys

A new thermogravimetric apparatus for studying the kinetics of metal sulphidation in a H₂/H₂S gas mixture is described. The main difference between this device and other equipment is the application of hydrogen to obtain a H₂/H₂S mixture at suitable sulphur partial pressures at a total mixture pressure of 1 atm.The use of the carrier gas allows the measurement of sulphidation kinetics under dynamic conditions and consequently over a much wider pressure range of sulphur vapour, down to 10^–12 atm.The author would like to thank Dr Marek Jodko for his help in devising the chemical analysis of H₂S in a H₂/H₂S gas mixture and for stimulating discussions relating to the design of the above apparatus.     

Model kinetic study of TiCl4-induced ionization of polyisobutene capped with diphenylethylene application to the synthesis of block copolymers

The use of non-homopolymerizable monomers such as 1,1-diphenylethylene (DPE) in the synthesis of functional polymers and block copolymers by cationic polymerization has been recently reported. The most important parameters in this process, the kinetics and extent of ionization and capping as well as the stability of the cation, were investigated by studying the reaction with TiCl₄ of 1-methoxy-1,1-diphenyl-3,3,5,5-tetramethylhexane, a model for DPE-capped polyisobutene chain-end. This study was performed using ¹H NMR and the high-purity stopped-flow device coupled with UV-visible spectroscopy.     

Adsorption of Pesticides onto Granular Activated Carbon: Determination of Surface Diffusivities Using Simple Batch Experiments

The Homogeneous Surface Diffusion Model (HSDM) has been successfully used to predict the adsorption kinetics for several chemicals inside batch adsorber vessels. In addition to the adsorption equilibrium, this model is based on external mass transfer and surface diffusion. This paper presents the determination of the surface diffusion coefficient (D _s) using a differential column batch reactor (DCBR). The adsorption kinetics for three pesticides onto granular activated carbon have been established experimentally. Their corresponding three diffusion coefficients were determined by fitting the computer simulations to the experimental concentration-time data. The results show that this original apparatus increases by an order of magnitude the range of reachable diffusion coefficient compared to perfectly mixed contactors. Moreover the computed D _s values are more accurate because of the better assessment of the external mass transfer coefficient (k _f) for fixed beds.