Photoelectron resonance capture ionization mass spectrometry: a soft ionization source for mass spectrometry of particle-phase organic compounds

Photoelectron resonance capture ionization (PERCI) is a soft and sensitive ionization method, based on the attachment of low-energy (<1 eV) photoelectrons to organic analyte molecules. PERCI has been developed in our laboratory for the real-time analysis of organic particles by mass spectrometry, and is employed here to monitor the heterogeneous reaction of ozone with oleic acid. Simplified identification of the reaction products is possible as a result of the soft nature of PERCI, giving predominantly the [M--H](-) ions. The major particle-phase products are identified as: 1-nonanal, nonanoic acid, 9-oxononanoic acid, and azelaic acid, consistent with proposed mechanisms. New insight into this well-studied heterogeneous reaction is gained as additional minor particle-phase products, consistent with the Criegee mechanism, are readily detected.     

A novel method for the estimation of arsenic(V) in organic compounds

A novel method for the determination of arsenic(V) in organic compounds has been developed by reducing combined arsenic(V) to arsenic(III) in aqueous acetic acid medium with zinc dust. In some cases, addition of ethyl alcohol is necessary to dissolve the compound and to keep the arsenic(III) compound in solution. The arsenic(III) is titrated with iodine and the end-point is detected visually with starch as indicator or potentiometrically.     

Photoelectron spectra of organic compounds—VI : Exocyclic methylene compounds

The photoelectron spectra of methylene and dimethylene derivatives of bridged and unbridged cyclohexane and cyclohexene were recorded and interpreted on the basis of an LCBO model. The conjugative interaction is found to be appreciably smaller for exocyclic cis-dienes than for the corresponding endocyclic cis-dienes, whereas the homoconjugative interaction between exocyclic and endocyclic double bonds and between two endocyclic double bonds is about the same.     

Development of soft plasma ionization (SPI) source for analysis of organic compounds

We present a newly designed soft plasma ionization (SPI) source developed for mass spectrometric study of organic compounds in this study. The SPI cell having a relatively small size consists of a hollow anode and a hollow mesh cathode. The voltage–current characteristic depending on the pressure was investigated, indicating that it has similar characteristics to conventional hollow cathode glow discharges. To investigate the emission characteristics of the SPI source, some molecular band emission spectra (N₂, N₂⁺ and OH⁺) were measured by using argon and helium discharge gases. The SPI source was installed to a commercially used quadrupole mass analyzer for analyzing organic compounds. To demonstrate the SPI source, the mass spectra of some organic compounds (methylene chloride, toluene, benzene, cyclohexane and chloroform) were measured. The organic compounds were ionized with good stability in the plasma, and the fragmentation depended on the applied current. When helium and argon gases were used as the discharge gas, the helium plasma was more suitable for SPI-MS rather than argon because the argon plasma not only suffers from spectral interference but also has lower sensitivity.     

After-effects of Auger ionization following electron capture in organic 125iodine compounds

The emission Mössbauer spectra of ¹²⁵I labeled iodobenzene, methyl iodide, and of their dilute solutions in benzene and hexane, were computer analyzed. Two species were observed, in one of which tellurium is presumably attached to two organic moieties, while in the other, tellurium is attached to a single organic moiety.     

A novel chemical ionization reagent ion for organic analytes: the aquachloromanganese(II) cation [ClMn(H2O)+]

The reactivity of ClMn(H₂O)⁺ towards small organic compounds (L) was examined in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT‐ICR) mass spectrometer. The organic compounds studied are aliphatic and aromatic alcohols, aliphatic amines, ketones, an epoxide, an ether, a thiol and a phosphine. All the reactions lead to the formation of the ClMn(H₂O)(L)⁺ complex, which dissociates by loss of the H₂O molecule. In general, the reactions were found to occur with high efficiencies (>85%), indicating them to be exothermic. Electron transfer was also observed between ClMn(H₂O)⁺ and compounds with low ionization energies (IE), to form the molecular ion (L^+?) of the analyte. Based on these observations, the IE of ClMn(H₂O)⁺ is approximated to be 8.1 ± 0.1 eV. Thus, the utility of ClMn(H₂O)⁺ as a chemical ionization reagent in mass spectrometry is expected to be limited to organic compounds with IEs greater than 8 eV. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards the electrospray ionization mass spectrometry ionization efficiency scale of organic compounds

An approach that allows setting up under predefined ionization conditions a rugged self-consistent quantitative experimental scale of electrospray ionization (ESI) efficiencies of organic compounds is presented. By ESI ionization efficiency (IE) we mean the efficiency of generating gas-phase ions from analyte molecules or ions in the ESI source. The approach is based on measurement of relative ionization efficiency (RIE) of two compounds (B1 and B2) by infusing a solution containing both compounds at known concentrations (C1 and C2) and measuring the mass-spectrometric responses of the protonated forms of the compounds (R1 and R2). The RIE of B1 and B2 is expressed as logRIE(B1, B2) = log[(R1 . C2)/(C1 . R2)]. The relative way of measurement leads to cancellation of many of the factors affecting IE (ESI source design, voltages in the source and ion transport system, solvent composition, flow rates and temperatures of the nebulizing and drying gases). Using this approach an ESI IE scale containing ten compounds (esters and aromatic amines) and spanning over 4 logRIE units has been compiled. The consistency of the scale (the consistency standard deviation of the scale is s = 0.16 logRIE units) was assured by making measurements using different concentration ratios (at least 6-fold concentration ratio range) of the compounds and by making circular validation measurements (the logRIE of any two compounds was checked by measuring both against a third compound).     

Evidence for a mechanism that involves secondary electron capture in the liquid secondary ionization mass spectrometry beam-induced dehalogenation of organic compounds

The effect of the analyte electron affinity on the liquid secondary ionization mass spectrometry beam-induced dehalogenation of simple bromoaromatic compounds in a glycerol matrix was investigated. The results show a definite trend of decreasing dehalogenation with increasing analyte electron affinity. At high analyte electron affinity (≥ 1.0 eV), no dehalogenation was observed. These results are consistent with electrochemical and pulse radiolysis studies where one electron reduction was shown to be responsible for dehalogenation. A chloroaromatic compound with high electron affinity, 4-(4-chloro-benzoyl)pyridine, exhibited reduction by hydrogen addition but not dehalogenation. The radiation chemistry of alcohols was used to elaborate a scheme of the reactive species generated in the glycerol matrix by kiloelectronvolt particle bombardment. The possible role of those species in reduction processes such as dehalogenation was evaluated. The observation that dehalogenation decreases with analyte electron affinity is mechanistically consistent with the proposition that secondary electron production is an intrinsic part of the bombardment process.     

A study of resonance electron capture ionization on a quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer

Procedures that allow the realization of resonance electron capture (REC) mode on a commercial triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer, after some simple modifications, are described. REC mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments were performed and spectra for some compounds were recorded. In particular, the charge-remote fragmentation (CRF) spectra of [M - H](-) ions of docosanoic and docosenoic acids under low-energy collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) conditions were obtained, and showed that there were no significant differences for [M - H](-) ions produced at different resonances (i.e. for [M - H](-) ions with different structures). This observation was explained on the basis of results obtained from deuterium-labeled fatty acids, which showed that different CRF ions (but with the same m/z value in the absence of labels) could be produced by different mechanisms, and all of them were obviously realized under CAD conditions that made spectra practically indistinguishable. The other example, which compared the REC-MS/MS spectrum of [M - H](-) ions and EI-MS/MS spectrum of M(+.) ions of daidzein, demonstrated the potential of the REC-MS/MS technique for more complex structure elucidation.     

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of phosphorylated compounds using a novel phosphate capture molecule

This paper introduces a simple, rapid, and sensitive procedure for the analysis of phosphorylated compounds (ROPO(3) (2-)) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS). The method is based on a characteristic mass shift and a total-charge change (from -2 to +1) of the phosphate residue due to complexation of ROPO(3) (2-) with a dinuclear zinc(II) complex (1,3-bis[bis(2-pyridinylmethyl)amino]-2-propanolato dizinc(II) complex, Zn(2)L(3+)) in aqueous solution at physiological pH. Furthermore, the use of single zinc-isotope derivatives ((64)Zn(2)L(3+) and (68)Zn(2)L(3+)) enables improvement of the sensitivity and accuracy of the analysis.     

Surface ionization of organic compounds and its applications

Surface ionization of organic compounds in a weak external electric field involving the formation of many-atomic positive ions is considered (including specific features of the phenomenon, its major characteristics, experimental techniques used and possible applications).

Information is presented on the adsorption of compounds of complex composition which was obtained in studying the phenomenon. A detailed analysis is made of the reactions of particles in the adsorbed layer, as well as of the methods of determining the binding energies of the particles undergoing ionization (primary molecules and many-atomic radicals and complexes produced on the surface) to the surface, and of their lifetimes on the surface against thermal desorption in the charged and neutral states.

Vast possibilities are shown to open up by using the thermally equilibrium processes of many-atomic particle ionization occurring on the surface for the determination of the properties of molecules, radicals and complexes (e.g. thermal stability, the weakest bond energies in ions, ionization potentials of the particles analyzed).

The physicochemical aspects of the surface ionization-based detection of organic compounds and of its applications to analytical mass spectrometry, gas chromatography and analytical chemistry of the atmosphere are considered. Attention is focused upon the fact that the high ionization coefficients observed for a number of compounds ensure a record-high sensitivity when using surface ionization-based detection.     

A novel and efficient excitation- and ionization-scheme for laser resonance ionization of mercury

A novel, efficient scheme for mercury atomic resonance ionization is proposed and experimentally studied with wavelengths λ₁=254 nm, λ₂=313 nm and λ₃=626 nm. The cross-sections of mercury photoionization from different excited states were estimated using a new imaging method of resonance ionization signal measurement. Almost 100% efficiency of Hg resonance ionization was achieved using the first harmonic of a dye laser at 626 nm to ionize mercury atoms excited into the 6³D₂ state. The photoionization cross-section from this state was found to be 1.5×10⁻¹⁸ cm². Suppression of the ionization signal by coherent effects (electromagnetically-induced transparency) and the efficiency of resonance ionization were also studied.     

Low-temperature plasma ionization source for the online detection of indoor volatile organic compounds

A simple-structure, low-power, and low-cost low temperature plasma (LTP) ionization source, coupled with mass spectrometry, for the online detection of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been constructed in this work. Air, instead of noble gases, was employed as the discharging and carrier gas. And a custom-built AC high-voltage power supply with a total power consumption of 5 W, frequency of 2-4 kHz, and amplitude around 1-5 kV_p-p was used. This LTP source is a soft ionization source. The initial performance of the ionization source has been evaluated by ionizing samples including alcohols, ketones, aldehydes and aromatics. These compounds cover most of the common air pollutants concerning people's health. It is well known that those plasmas generated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) produce significant amount of metastable species and electrons with mean energies greater than several electronvolt, but minimal fragmentation was observed in our work. Protonated ions are the dominant product for the VOCs detected after the ionization process. Further work has been conducted to confirm the detection feature of this source. The results are promising enough to ensure the novel LTP ionization source as an effective tool for the online detection of indoor VOCs.     

Electrospray/VUV single-photon ionization mass spectrometry for the analysis of organic compounds

For the comprehensive analysis of organic compounds, especially thermal labile and nonpolar compounds, an electrospray/vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) single-photon ionization (ES-SPI) method was developed. The fine droplets of the sample solution from the electrospray process were directed through a quartz capillary and two skimmers to form a molecular beam into a high vacuum ionization chamber. The neutral sample molecules were softly ionized with tunable VUV light and analyzed with a reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (RTOF-MS). The ionization energy (IE) and appearance onsets of fragments were obtained based on the photoionization efficiency (PIE) spectrum. The isomers can also be distinguished. With this new method, clean (fragment-free) mass spectra of nonpolar compounds, such as benzene, cyclohexane, and some thermal labile solid compounds (triphenylamine, thioacetamide, and urea) have been obtained without any tedious pretreatment. The components of complex mixtures (gasoline and kerosene) can be identified. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the components can be obtained based on photoionization cross section data. This method may be used for quantitative analysis of small biomolecules and natural products.     

一个新的拓扑指数用于有机化合物的QSPR/QSAR研究

在分子图的邻接矩阵和距离矩阵的基础上提出了一个新的拓扑指数Xu,该拓扑指数易于计算,对C~2-C~1~6饱和烷烃有较高的结构区分能力,通过适当的处理可方便地推广到含多重键杂原子体系。该指数与饱和烷烃的正常沸点等理化性质,不饱和链烃类化合物的热容以及某些脂肪醇的毒性和疏水性参数均具有较好的性质相关性。绝大多数理化性质与Xu指数均能建立简单线性模型,且相关系数均大于0.99,表明该指数有望在QSPR/QSAR研究中作为一个新的参数而获得推广应用。     

Modern methods for estimation of ionization constants of organic compounds in solution

The review considers main up-to-date approaches to the calculation of ionization constants of organic compounds in solutions. Methods based on quantum-chemical calculations, continuum solvent models, cluster models, and quantitative structure-property relationships are discussed. The results of calculations of pK _a values by different methods, obtained in the past decade, are compared.     

Hetarylation of organic compounds (review)

Reactions of the direct introduction of nitrogenous aromatic heterocycles into nucleophilic organic compounds with the use in situ of N-acyl salts of heterocyclic cations and also of heteroaromatic anion radicals are discussed.     

A novel triazidoruthenium(III) building block for the construction of polynuclear compounds

Reaction of [Ru(VI)(N)(sap)Cl] with excess NaN(3) affords a novel paramagnetic triazidoruthenium(III) complex [Ru(III)(sap)(N(3))(3)](2-), which is isolated as a PPh(4)(+) salt (1). Reaction of 1 with Ni(2+) and Co(2+) ions produce two isostructural hexanuclear [Ru(4)M(2)] compounds, [Ru(IV)(4)M(II)(2)(μ(3)-OMe)(2)(μ-OMe)(2)(μ-N)(2)(μ-N(3))(2)(μ-O(phenoxy))(2)(sap)(4) (MeOH)(4)] (M = Ni 2 or Co 3). The molecular structures of 1-3 have been determined by X-ray crystallography. 1 is a mononuclear ruthenium(III) compound where three azide ligands are bonded to ruthenium in a meridional fashion, while compounds 2 and 3 are isostructural hexanuclear compounds containing a defective face-sharing dicubane-like core with two missing vertexes. Variable-temperature dc magnetic susceptibility studies have been carried out for 2 and 3. These data indicate that there are four diamagnetic Ru(IV) ions in 2 and 3 and there is ferromagnetic interaction between the two Ni(2+) in 2 and Co(2+) in 3 via the methoxy bridges.     

A new approach to the simultaneous multi-detection technique with electron capture and flame ionization in series

In order to avoid splitting at the column outlet for simultaneous multidetection, a new line of detector heads with the ionization cells coupled in series has been developed. The electron capture plus flame ionization detector (EC+FI-D) has been evaluated from the point of view of the sensitivity, the linear dynamic range and separation efficiency in a capillary column GC system. The performances of each section are the same as when a single ionization detector head is used.