Rearrangements and fragmentations of phenyl styryl sulfides: 1—Metastable ion spectra

The mass spectra of two isomeric phenyl styryl sulphides show abundant peaks for fragment ions formed after interesting and unusual rearrangements, e.g. loss of CHS^˙ and C₇H₇^˙. Information about these rearrangements was obtained by comparison of the metastable peak intensities and peak shapes with those of four isomers. It appears that isomerization reactions between the phenyl styryl sulfides and the isomers are possible and that most of the metastable ion fragmentations proceed via reacting configurations that are common to two or more of the compounds investigated. The results indicate that an earlier proposed mechanism for the fragmentation of phenyl vinyl sulfides is incomplete and only partly correct for the compounds studied. Metastable ion spectra were obtained using high voltage scans and constant B/E scans: a short comparison of the results obtained with the two methods is given.     

(±)‐6‐Benzyl‐3,3‐di­methyl­morpholine‐2,5‐dione and its 5‐mono­thio and 2,5‐di­thio derivatives

The morpholine ring of the title dione, C₁₃H₁₅NO₃, shows a boat conformation that is distorted towards a twist‐boat, with the boat ends being the two Csp³ atoms of the ring. The benzyl substituent is in the favoured `exo' position. In the mono­thione derivative, (±)‐6‐benzyl‐3,3‐di­methyl‐5‐thioxo­morpholin‐2‐one, C<sub>13</sub>H<sub>15</sub>NO<sub>2</sub>S, this ring has a much flatter conformation that is midway between a boat and an envelope, with the di­methyl end being almost planar. The orientation of the benzyl group is `endo'. The di­thione derivative, (±)‐6‐benzyl‐3,3‐di­methyl­morpholine‐2,5‐di­thione, C₁₃H₁₅N­OS₂, has two symmetry‐independent mol­ecules, which show different puckering of the morpholine ring. One mol­ecule has a flattened envelope conformation distorted towards a screw‐boat, while the conformation in the other mol­ecule is similar to that in the mono­thione derivative. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules in the three compounds, respectively, into centrosymmetric dimers, infinite chains, and dimers made up of one of each of the symmetry‐independent mol­ecules.     

Hydrogen rearrangements of ionized propanoic acid and isomeric ions

Ionized propanoic acid and its enol isomer lose H^˙ in both normal and metastable decompositions. These C₃H₆O₂ ions lose their distinctness prior to undergoing metastable decomposition in the mass spectrometer. Deuterium labeling indicated that this results from the transfer of a β-hydrogen to oxygen in the propanoic acid ion followed by rapid exchange of hydrogen and deuteriums between the α- and β-carbons and slower exchange between the carbons and the oxygens. 3- and 5-Membered ring hydrogen rearrangements are preferred over 4-membered ring transfers. It is concluded that 1,2-hydrogen shifts following removal of hydrogen from alkyl chains may sometimes cause site-specific hydrogen rearrangements to appear non-site specific.     

Carbon skeletal rearrangements in 2-phenylthiophene and 2,5-diphenylthiophene under conditions of electron-impact

The mass spectra of ¹³C-labelled 2-phenylthiophenes and 2,5-diphenylthiophenes were studied. The label distributions for the [HCS]⁺, [C₂H₂S]^+·, [C₈H₆]^+·, [C₉H₇]⁺ and [C₇H₅]S⁺ ions from 2-phenylthiophene and the [HCS]⁺, [C₉H₇]⁺, [C₇H₅S]^+·, and [C₁₅H₁₁]⁺ ions from 2,5-diphenylthiophene were interpreted in terms of both carbon skeletal rearrangements in the thiophene ring and migration of the phenyl substituent. The degree of carbon scrambling in the thiophene ring appeared to be almost independent of the electron beam energy. The formation of some of the fragment ions studied seems to be so fast that no carbon scrambling could be detected at all; in neither case was complete scrambling of the carbon atoms of the thiophene ring observed.     

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.     

Collision-induced dissociations of substituted benzyl anions: Deprotonated 2-Phenyl-1,3-dithiane

Deprotonated 2-phenyl-1,3-dithiane undergoes competitive losses of H˙, C₃H₆ C₂H₄S, C₃H₄S, C₇H₆S, C₁₀H₁₀ and C₁₀H₁₀S upon collisional activation. The elimination of H occurs from the phenyl ring. The loss of C₃H₆ occurs by simple cleavage of the dithiane ring. All other processes involve specific proton transfer followed by either cleavage or internal nucleophilic displacement.     

Fragmentation mechanisms of isoxazole

Fragmentation pathways of isoxazole giving ions [C₃H₂ON]⁺, [C₂H₃N]^+˙ and [C₂H₂N]⁺ are elucidated by means of metastable ion studies and thermodynamic properties. Rearrangement reactions are demonstrated to occur with H and HCO loss. Elimination of carbon monoxide leads to [C₂H₃N]^+˙ ions whose reacting configuration is the same as for acetonitrile. All these results can be rationalized in terms of a prior isomerization of isoxazole involving ring opening and 1,2 H migration.     

A photo-ionization study of organosulfur ring compounds: Thiirane,thietane and tetrahydrothiophene

The gas phase heats of formation of several organosulfur cations were determined from thiirane, thietane and tetrahydrothiophene precursor molecules by photoionization mass spectrometry. Heats of formation at 0 K and 298 K are reported for the following ions: [H₂CS]^+˙, [H₃CS]⁺, [C₂H₃S]⁺, [C₂H₄S]^+˙, [C₃H₅S]⁺, [C₃H₆S]^+˙, [C₄H₇S]⁺ and [C₄H₈S]^+˙. The [C₄H₇S]⁺ (m/z 87), [C₂H₄S]^+˙ (m/z 60), [C₂H₃S]⁺ (m/z 59), [C₄H₇]⁺ (m/z 55), [C₄H₆]^+˙ (m/z 54) and [CH₂S]^+˙ (m/z 46) ions are produced from metastable tetrahydrothiophene ions at photon energies between 10.2 and 10.7 eV. Decay rates of internal energy selected parent ions to the m/z 60, 59, 55 and 54 fragments were measured by threshold photoelectron-photoion coincidence, the results of which are compared to statistical theory (RRKM/QET) calculations. The [C₂H₄S]^+˙ ion from tetrahydrothiophene is found to have the thioacetaldehyde structure. From the measured [C₂H₄S]^+˙ onset a ΔH = 50±8 kJ mol^?1 was calculated for the thioacetaldehyde molecule.     

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.     

Evaluation of AM1-calculated radical cation ion-neutral complexes

AM1 semiempirical molecular orbital calculations are reported for 20 ion-neutral complexes, including hydrogen-bonded complexes, presumably involved in the gas-phase unimolecular decomposition of simple organic radical cations. The systems investigated are [C₂H₄O₂]^˙+, [C₂H₅NO]^˙+, [C₂H₆O]^˙+, [C₂H₆O₂]^˙+, [C₃H₆O]^˙+, [C₃H₆O₂]^˙+, [C₃H₈O]^˙+, and [C₃H₈O₂]^˙+. The AM1 results are compared with ab initio molecular orbital calculations at different levels of theory up to MP3/6-31G(d, p)//SCF/6-31G(d) + ZPVE and the available experimental data. AM1 fails to predict some local minima and the equilibrium geometries calculated for several complexes are found to be qualitatively different from those predicted by the ab initio calculations. However, reasonable agreement is generally found for the stabilization energies of the complexes toward dissociation into their loosely bound components. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Electron impact induced migrations of aryl groups in substituted 4(3H)-quinazolinones

Electron impact mass spectra of 2-diphenylmethyl-3-aryl-4(3H)-quinazolinones display ions arising from migrations of different aryl groups in the molecular and [M? H]⁺ ions. The most abundant ion due to rearrangement, [C₁₃H₉NO]^+˙, is formed by migration of a phenyl from the benzhydryl group onto N-1 and subsequent cleavage of the heterocyclic ring. Other rearrangements involve initial migration of the N-3 aryl group to the benzylic carbon. The mechanisms of migrations were elucidated by means of deuterium and ¹⁵N labelling and are supported by metastable spectra.     

Doubly charged ion mass spectra: IV—chlorinated and brominated alkanes

Doubly charged ion mass spectra have been obtained for 42 chlorinated and brominated n-alkane (methyl through octyl) hydrocarbons. A double focusing Hitachi RMU-7L mass spectrometer, operated at 1.6kV accelerating voltage, has been used to measure the spectra. Molecular doubly charged ions have not been observed. Intense fragment ions have been produced from extensive H and halogen loss as well as C? C bond rupture of the parent molecule. The most abundant ions in the doubly charged ion spectra observed in this investigation resulted from reactions of [Cl]²⁺˙, [Br]²⁺˙, [CCL₂]²⁺, [C₂H₂Cl]²⁺˙, [C₃H₂]²⁺, [C₃HCl]²⁺, [C₃HBr]²⁺, [C₄H₃]²⁺˙, [C₄H₄]²⁺, [C₄H₆Br]²⁺˙, [C₄H₈Br]²⁺˙, [C₅H₂]²⁺, [C₆H₆]²⁺, [C₆H₈]²⁺ and [C₇H₈]²⁺. The prominent doubly charged fragment ions formed by electron impact of the smaller halogenated alkanes generally contained halogen, whereas ions of the type [C_nH_x]²⁺ were dominant in the spectra of higher molecular weight mono- and dihalogenated alkanes. Appearance energies of several ions have been measured. A geometry optimized quantum mechanical SCF treatment has been used to compute energies, charge densities and structures of doubly charged halogenated alkane ions.     

Collision-induced dissociation of negative ions in the gas phase: [Aryl S]−, [aryl SO]− and [aryl SO2]−

Collision-induced dissociation of the ions [ArS]^?, [ArSO]^? and [ArSO₂]^? has uncovered a rich and varied ion chemistry. The major fragmentations of [ArS]^? are complex and occur without prior ring hydrogen scrambling: for example, [C₆H₅S]^?→[C₂HS]^? and [HS]^?; [p-CD₃C₆H₄S]^?→[C₆H₄S]^?˙, [CD₃C₄S]^? and [C₂HS]^?. In contrast, all decompositions of [C₆H₅CH₂S]^? are preceded by specific benzylic and phenyl hydrogen interchange reactions. [ArSO₂]^? and [ArSO₂]^? ions undergo rearrangement, e.g. [C₆H₅SO]^?→[C₆H₅O]^? and [C₆H₅S]^?; [C₆H₅SO₂]^?→[C₆H₅O] ^?. The ion [C₆H₅CH₂SO]^? eliminates water, this decomposition is preceded by benzylic and phenyl hydrogen exchange.     

Collisional activation study of cyclic polysulfides

Cyclic polysulfides isolated from higher plants, model compounds and their electron impact induced fragment ions have been investigated by various mass spectrometric methods. These species represent three sets of sulfur compounds: C₃H₆S_x (x=1?6), C₂H₄S_x (x=1?5) and CH₂S_x (x=1?4). Three general fragmentation mechanisms are discussed using metastable transitions: (1) the unimolecular loss of structural parts (CH₂S, CH₂ and S_x); (2) fragmentations which involve ring opening reactions, hydrogen migrations and recyclizations of the product ions ([M? CH₃]⁺, [M? CH₃S]⁺, [M? SH]⁺ and [M? CS₂]^+˙); and (3) complete rearrangements preceding the fragmentations ([M? S₂H]⁺ and [M? C₂H₄]^+˙). The cyclic structures of [M]^+˙ and of specific fragment ions have been investigated by comparing the collisional activation spectra of model ions. On the basis of these results the cyclic ions decompose via linear intermediates and then recyclizations of the product ions occur. The stabilities of the fragment ions have been determined by electron efficiency vs electron energy curves.     

Energy dependence of the fragmentation of some isomeric [C6H12]+˙ ions

The charge exchange mass spectra of 14 C₆H₁₂ isomers have been determined using [CS₂]^+˙, [COS]^+˙, [Xe]^+˙, [CO]^+˙, [N₂]^+˙ and [Ar]^+˙ as the major reactant ions covering the recombination energy range from ∼10.2 eV to ∼15.8 eV. From the charge exchange data breakdown graphs have been constructed expressing the energy dependence of the fragmentation of the isomeric [C₆H₁₂]^+˙ molecular ions. The electron impact mass spectra are discussed in relation to these breakdown graphs and approximate internal energy distribution functions derived from photoelectron spectra.     

Unconventional Pathway in the Gas-Phase Synthesis of 9H-Fluorene (C13H10) via the Radical–Radical Reaction of Benzyl (C7H7) with Phenyl (C6H5)

The simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) carrying a five-membered ring—9H-fluorene (C₁₃H₁₀)—is produced isomer-specifically in the gas phase by reacting benzyl (C₇H₇⋅) with phenyl (C₆H₅⋅) radicals in a pyrolytic reactor coupled with single photon ionization mass spectrometry. The unconventional mechanism of reaction is supported by theoretical calculations, which first produces diphenylmethane and unexpected 1-(6-methylenecyclohexa-2,4-dienyl)benzene intermediates (C₁₃H₁₂) accessed via addition of the phenyl radical to the ortho position of the benzyl radical. These findings offer convincing evidence for molecular mass growth processes defying conventional wisdom that radical-radical reactions are initiated through recombination at their radical centers. The structure of 9H-fluorene acts as a molecular building block for complex curved nanostructures like fullerenes and nanobowls providing fundamental insights into the hydrocarbon evolution in high temperature settings.     

The mass spectra of alkyl phenyl tellurides

The mass spectra of several alkyl phenyl tellurides, C₆H₅TeR (R = CH₃, CD₃, C₂H₅, n-C₃H₇, i-C₃H₇ and n-C₄H₉) have been studied with special emphasis on the fragmentation patterns involving cleavage of the alkyl and aryl tellurium–carbon bonds. Each compound exhibited intense parent ions. The rearrangement ions [C₆H₆Te]⁺? and [C₆H₆]⁺? were found in the spectra of phenyl ethyl and higher tellurides. Two other rearrangement ions [HTe]⁺ and [C₇H₇]⁺ were observed in the spectrum of each compound. Examination of the mass spectrum of phenyl methyl-d₃ telluride demonstrated that the [HTe]⁺ ions derive hydrogen from the phenyl group.     

Characterization of isomeric [CH5P]+˙ and [C2H7P]+˙ radical cations and some [C2H6P]+ phosphonium ions in the gas phase by their collisional activation spectra

Collisional activation spectra were used to characterize isomeric ion structures for [CH₅P]^+˙ and [C₂H₇P]^+˙ radical cations and [C₂H₆P]⁺ even-electron ions. Apart from ionized methylphosphane, [CH₃PH₂]^+˙, ions of structure [CH₂PH₃]^+˙ appear to be stable in the gas phase. Among the isomeric [C₂H₇P]^+˙ ions stable ion structures [CH₂PH₂CH₃]^+˙ and [CH₂CH₂PH₃]^+˙/[CH₃CHPH₃]^+˙ are proposed as being generated by appropriate dissociative ionization reactions of alkyl phosphanes. At least three isomeric [C₂H₆]⁺ ions appear to exist, of which \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm CH}_{\rm 3} - \mathop {\rm P}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm H = CH}_{\rm 2} $\end{document} could be identified positively.     

[C7H7]+ and [C6H5]+ fragment ions produced from methylphenol isomers by electron impact

Appearance energies for [C₇H₇]⁺ and [C₆H₅]⁺ fragment ions obtained from methylphenol isomers were measured at the threshold using the electron impact technique. Different processes for the formation of the ions are suggested and discussed. Metastable peaks were detected and the kinetic energies released were determined. The results indicate that [C₇H₇]⁺ ions are formed from metbylpbenois with both benzyl and tropylium structures, whereas [C₆H₅]⁺ ions are formed with the phenyl structure at the detected thresholds. Kinetic energies released on fragmentation of reactive [ C₇H₇]⁺ and [C₆H₅]⁺ ions were used as a probe for the structure of the ions at 70 eV.     

Electrophilic aromatic substitution under chemical ionization conditions. Methylamine and ammonia as reagent gases

For compounds C₆H₅X (X?Cl, Br, I) under chemical ionization conditions, methylamine causes ipso substitution of X by [NH₂CH₃]⁺ and by [NH₂]⁺˙. C₆H₅F is less reactive; it gives some [C₆H₅NH₂]⁺˙. Nitrobenzene gives an adduct ion [M+CH₃NH₃]⁺, a reduction product ion [C₆H₅NO₂]⁺˙, and an ion at m/z93, probably a substitution product [C₆H₅NH₂]⁺˙, but no [C₆H₅NH₂CH₃]⁺. It is also shown that the ion m/z94, formed from nitrobenzene with ammonia as reagent gas, is a substitution product rather than a reduction product ion. Carbonyl compounds C₆H₅. CO. X give adduct ions and some substitution, mainly [C₆H₅NH₂]⁺˙.