Substituent effects in the field ionization mass spectra of acetophenones

Substituent effects in the electron-impact and field ionization mass spectra of acteophenones are compared. No Hammett correlation could be found for the fragments formed on the surface of the field anode. A straight line log z/z0 versus σ⁺ was observed, however, for the metastable decomposition of para-substituted acetophenones (and also some benzophenones). Meta-substituted compounds did not yield such straight lines.     

On the correlation between emitter heating current and emitter temperature in field desorption mass spectrometry

Calibration curves have been established that give an estimate of the temperature in the emission region of high temperature activated field desorption emitters. Two characteristic types of field anodes have been investigated: (1) emitter wires carrying microneedles of 25 to 30 μm length, preferentially used for field desorption of organic compounds; (2) emitters with microneedles of 50 to 60 μm length, which are used for the investigations of polymers by pyrolysis field desorption mass spectrometry.     

Applications of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to neutral organic molecules including fullerenes

The use of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) for the detection of neutral organic molecules becomes possible by their derivation with specific ESI/MS tagging reagents that have either proton or metal ion binding sites. We used the neutral crown ether group in several reagents to attach a metal binding site to substrate molecules. Application of this method to steroids, amino acids, vitamin D, fatty acids, and fullerenes is described. Besides characterization, tagged molecules can be used for studying organic reactions by ESI/MS. This work demonstrates that ESI/MS provides a unique window on fullerene solution chemistry. ESI/MS is not only an excellent tool for the analysis of biopolymers but is also useful for studying the organic chemistry of small neutral molecules.     

Doubly charged fragment ions in the field ionization mass spectra of alkylbenzenes

It is shown that the radical [C₆H₅C_mH_2m]²⁺ fragment ions found in the field ionization mass spectra of alkylbenzenes are formed via a different adsorption state of the singly charged species than in the case of the formation of [M]²⁺ molecular ions. It is further demonstrated that the primary fragmentation of molecules by the cleavage of C? C bonds results not only from decompositions of molecular ions in the gas phase but also from surface reactions.     

Electron-impact-induced hydrogen migration in organic molecules I–Substituent effects in the mass spectra of pivlanilides

Substited pivalanilides give rise to fragments corresponding to anilies on electron-impact, which is due to the migration of a hydrogen atom from the t-butyl group to the nitrogen. The Hammett correlation indicates that the formation of this fragment is favoured by electron-donating groups. The other interesting feature of these spectra is the migration of the aryl group to the t-butyl carbon with the elimination of the neutral ketemine.     

Basic rules for the interpretation of atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectra of small molecules

This review summarizes the basic rules for the interpretation of atmospheric pressure ionization (API) mass spectra of small molecules written with the style primarily intended for beginners and low-experienced researchers with the mass spectra interpretation. The first and basic step in any interpretation of mass spectra is always the determination of molecular weight, which is relatively easy in case of soft ionization techniques due to the limited extend of fragmentation and the prevailing presence of (de)protonated molecules in the full scan mass spectra. These [M+H]⁺ and [M−H]⁻ ions are often accompanied by low abundant molecular adducts, which can be used as the supplementary information for the unambiguous determination of molecular weights. In certain cases, adduct ions may dominate the spectra. The subsequent interpretation of full scan and tandem mass spectra is more complicated due to a high number of possible functional groups, structural subunits and their combinations resulting in numerous competitive fragmentation pathways. Typical neutral losses and the effect of individual functional groups on the fragmentation are discussed in detail and illustrated with selected examples. Modern mass analyzers have powerful features for the structural elucidation, for example high resolving power, high mass accuracy, multistage tandem mass spectrometry, dedicated softwares for the interpretation of mass spectra and prediction of their fragmentation. Background information on differences among individual ionization techniques suitable for the HPLC–MS coupling and basic types of mass analyzers with consequences for the data interpretation is briefly discussed as well. Selected examples illustrate that the right optimization of chromatographic separation and the use of other than mass spectrometric detectors can bring valuable complementary information.     

Stereochemical effects in the chemical ionization mass spectra of cyclic diols

The chemical ionization mass spectra of configurational isomers of many cyclic diols give substantial differences which are characteristic of their stereochemistry. For the cis-isomer of 1,3- and 1,4-cyclohexanediols, formation of a stable intramolecular proton bridge involving the OH groups gives rise to dominant MH⁺ peaks, suppressing the (M-H)⁺ peaks found in the spectra of the trans-isomers and monoalcohols. The stability of the proton bridge in cis-1,3-cyclohexanediol structures is decreased by a sterically interfering cis-5-methyl substituent, but increased by a cis-5-OH group due to additional proton solvation. cis-Stereochemistry also gives increased formation of the dimeric M₂H⁺ ions, but decreased formation of trimers, at higher diol concentrations, for the 1,3- and 1,4-diols. The similarity of the CI spectra of cis- and trans-1,2-cyclohexanediol are explicable in terms of the similarities of the most stable proton-bridged conformers; the reduced ring flexibility in cis- and trans-1,2-cyclopentanediols makes such similar structures unfavorable, as shown by the substantial differences between their CI spectra. The substantial, but expected, variations in behavior with temperature and reagent gas are useful for maximizing stereochemical effects on CI spectra; conditions of lowest energy are usually, but not always, the most useful.     

Microfabricated PDMS multichannel emitter for electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A novel microfabricated multichannel emitter for electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was implemented with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using a soft lithography technique. The emitters are formed as electrospray tips along a thin membrane on the edge of the device with channels of 100 microm x 30 microm dimensions. The electrospray performance of the PDMS emitters for a single channel device and a four channel device interfaced with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer was evaluated for detecting the molecular weight of reference peptides (angiotensin I and bradykinin). The emitters were durable at the flow rate of 1-20 microL min(-1) for more than 30 h of continuous electrospray with limit of detection of 1 microM (S/N 18). This microfabrication method for a PDMS multichannel emitter as an integral part of a microfluidic device will facilitate development of more complex microfluidic analysis systems using ESI-MS.     

Chemical ionization mass spectra of mononitroarenes

The H₂ and CH₄ chemical ionization mass spectra of a selection of substituted nitrobenzenes have been determined. It is shown that reduction of the nitro group to the amine is favoured by high source temperatures and the presence of water in the ion source. The H₂ chemical ionization mass spectra are much more useful for distinguishing between isomeric compounds than the CH₄ CI mass spectra because of the more extensive fragmentation. For ortho substituents bearing a labile hydrogen abundant [MH ? H₂O]⁺ fragments are observed. When the substituent is electron-releasing both ortho and para substituted nitrobenzenes show abundant [MH? OH]⁺ fragment ions while meta substituted compounds show abundant loss of NO and NO₂ from [MH]⁺. The latter fragmentation is interpreted in terms of protonation para to the substituent or ortho to the vitro function, while the first two fragmentation routes arise from protonation at the nitro group. When the substituent is electron-attracting the chemical ionization mass spectra of isomers are very similar except for the H₂O loss reaction for ortho compounds.     

Rearrangements in chemical ionization mass spectra

Rearrangements reported in the literature for positive ions formed by chemical ionization are briefly reviewed, with particular emphasis on illustrative examples of hydrogen and skeletal rearrangements.     

Field desorption mass spectrometry with indirect heating of the emitter

In field desorption mass spectrometry it is in many cases more expedient to heat the field anode indirectly by i.r.-radiation instead of the usual method of electric heating to achieve higher relative molecular ion intensities.