Metastable ion studies. IV—thermochemistry and ion structures among fragmenting [C3H6]+· ions

Metastable ion peak shapes, dimensions and relative abundances have been measured for the three fragmentations [C₃H₆]⁺· → [C₃H₄]⁺· + H₂, [C₃H₆]⁺· → [C₃H₅]⁺ + H· and [C₃H₆]⁺· → [C₃H₃]⁺ + H₂ + H·. [C₃H₆]⁺· ions were derived from propene, cyclopropane, tetrahydrofuran, cyclohexanone, 2-methyl but-1-ene and cis-pent-2-ene. Activation energies for these fragmentations have been evaluated. Three daughter ion dissociations ([C₃H₅]⁺ → [C₃H₃]⁺ + H₂, [C₃H₅]⁺ → [C₃H₄]⁺· + H· and [C₃H₄]⁺· → [C₃H₃]⁺ + H·) have been similarly examined. Ion structures have been determined and the metastable energy releases have been correlated with the thermochemical data. It is concluded that the molecular ions of propene and cyclopropane become structurally indistinguishable prior to fragmentation and that differences in their metastable ion characteristics can be ascribed wholly to internal energy differences; the latter can be correlated with the photoelectron spectra of the isomers. The pathway for the consecutive fragmentation which generates the metastable ion peak (m/e 42 → m/e.39) has been shown to be It is likewise concluded that fragmentating [C₃H₆]⁺· ions generated from the various precursor molecules are also structurally indistinguishable and cannot be classified with either molecular ion of the isomeric C₃H₆ hydrocarbons.     

Degenerate skeletal rearrangement and energy partitioning in the fragmentation of the norbornyl cation

The electron-impact-induced fragmentation of a ¹³C labelled exo-2-norbornyl chloride has been studied. When the norbornyl cation, [C₇H₁₁]⁺, [M – Cl], dissociates by elimination of C₂H₄, carbon atoms are randomly lost showing that extensive skeletal rearrangement (in addition to the complete hydrogen atom scrambling reported earlier) has taken place in the norbornyl cation prior to dissociation. The metastable ion peak associated with the above fragmentation consists of superimposed gaussian and flat-top components; it is proposed that these correspond to the formation of isomeric [C₅H₇]₊ daughter ions whose heats of formation differ by ～0.4 eV.     

Ionisation et Fragmentation en Spectrométrie de Masse. VII—Structure de l'Ion [C6H6O]+ Issu de la Décomposition du Phényléthyléther Sous Impact Electronique

The activation energy is calculated for the fragmentation [C₆H₅OC₂H₅]⁺ → [C₆H₆O]⁺ +C₂H₄. Estimation of the enthalpy difference between the final state and the molecular ion supports the formation of a phenol-like structure for the [C₆H₆O]⁺ ion. The activation energy for backward reaction is compared with the mean kinetic energy release. Whether this is a concerted or non-concerted fragmentation is discussed.     

Doubly charged benzene and isomeric dications. Fragmentation energetics and charge distributions calculated by MINDO/3 molecular orbital theory

MINDO/3 calculations for singlet and triplet doubly charged benzene [C₆H₆]²⁺ are in satisfactory agreement with the experimentally determined values of the vertical double ionization energy of benzene; calculations for straight chain isomeric structures are consistent with the observed kinetic energy release on fragmentation to [C₅H₃]⁺ and [CH₃]⁺. Symmetrical doubly charged benzene ions relax to a less symmetrical cyclic structure having sufficient internal energy to fragment by ring opening and hydrogen transfer towards the ends of the carbon chain. Fragmentation of [CH₃C₄CH₃]²⁺ to [CH₃C₄]⁺ and [CH₃]⁺ is a relatively high energy process (A), whereas both (B): [CH₃CHC₃CH₂]²⁺ to [CHC₃CH₂]⁺ and [CH₃]⁺ and (C): [CH₃CHCCHCCH]²⁺ to [CHCCHCCH]⁺ and [CH₃]⁺ may be exothermic processes from doubly charged benzene. Furthermore, the calculated energy for the reverse of process (A) is less than the experimentally observed kinetic energy released, whereas larger energies for the reverse of processes B and C are predicted. Heats of formation of homologous series [HC_n]⁺, [CH₃C_n]⁺, [CH₂C_n?2CH]⁺, [CH₃C_n?2CH₂]⁺ and [CH₂?CHC_n?3CH₂]⁺ with 1 < n < 6 are calculated to aid prediction of the most stable products of fragmentation of doubly charged cations. The homologous series [CH₂C_n?2CH]⁺ is relatively stable and may account for ready fragmentation of doubly charged ions to [C_nH₃]⁺; alternatively the symmetrical [C₅H₃]⁺ ion [CHCCHCCH]⁺ may be formed. Dicoordinate carbon chains appear to be important stabilizing features for both cations and dications.     

Photodissociation of protonated β-diketones in the gas phase

The gas phase photodissociation spectra of four protonated β-diketones were obtained and compared with the absorption spectra of the corresponding ions in solution. Protonated 2,4-pentanedione was observed to undergo the photodissociation process [C₅H₉O₂]⁺ +hν → [CH₃CO]⁺ +C₃H₆O with a λmax at 276±10 nm compared with a solution absorption maximum at 286 nm. Protonated 2,4-hexanedione was observed to undergo the photodissociation processes [C₆H₁₁O₂]⁺ +hν → [CH₃CO]⁺ +C₄H₈O and [C₆H₁₁O₂]⁺ +hν → [C₂H₅CO]⁺ +C₃H₆O with a λmax at 279±10 nm compared with a solution absorption maximum at 288 nm. Protonated 3-methyl-2,4-pentanedione was observed to undergo the photodissociation process [C₆H₁₁O₂]⁺ +hν → [CH₃CO]⁺ +C₄H₈O with a λmax at 295±10 nm compared with a solution absorption maximum at 305 nm. Protonated 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentanedione was observed to undergo the photodissociation process [C₅H₆F₃O₂]⁺ +hν → CF₃H+[C₄H₅O₂]⁺ with a λmax at 273±10 nm compared with a solution absorption maximum at 288 nm. The [CH₃CO]⁺ and [C₂H₅CO]⁺ produced photochemically with the first three ions react to regenerate the protonated β-diketone leading to a photostationary state. Photodissociation of the protonated alkyl β-diketones is believed to occur from the protonated keto form, whereas photodissociation of protonated 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentanedione is believed to occur from the protonated enol form. Mechanisms for the observed photodissociation processes are proposed and comparisons with results from related techniques are presented.     

Ionisation et Fragmentation en Spectrométrie de Masse. VI—Energie d'Activation de la Fragmentation Principale des Monohalogénobenzènes

The activation energy of the fragmentation [C₆H₅X?]⁺ → [C₆H₅]⁺ + X? (X = Cl, Br, I) is calculated by various methods. These results are compared with determinations of kinetic energy release and with rate constant values available in the literature.     

A mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry investigation of the nature of [C10H10]+˙, [C9H7]+ and [C10H8]+˙ gas phase ions

Additional evidence for the rearrangement of the 1- and 3-phenylcyclobutene radical cations, their corresponding ring-opened 1,3-butadiene ions and 1,2-dihydronaphthalene radical cations to methylindenetype ions has been obtained for the decomposing ions by mass analysed ion kinetic energy spectroscopy (MIKES). The nature of the [C₉H₇]⁺ and [C₁₀H₈]^+˙ daughter ions arising from the electron ionization induced fragmentation of these [C₁₀H₁₀]^+˙ precursors has been investigated by collisionally activated dissociation (CAD), collisional ionization and ion kinetic energy spectroscopy. The [C₉H₇]⁺ produced from the various C₁₀H₁₀ hydrocarbons are of identical structure or an identical mixture of interconverting structures. These ions are similar in nature to the [C₉H₇]⁺ generated from indene by low energy electron ionization. The [C₁₀H₈]^+˙ ions also possess a common structure, which is presumably that of the maphthalene radical cation.     

Structures of decomposing and non-decomposing gas-phase [C4H6O]+· radical cations,and their [C2H2O]+· and [C3H6]+· product ions

The structures of gas-phase [C₄H₆O]^+· radical cations and their daughter ions of composition [C₂H₂O]^+· and [C₃H₆]^+· were investigated by using collisionally activated dissociation, metastable ion measurement, kinetic energy release and collisional ionization tandem mass spectrometric techniques. Electron ionization (70 eV) of ethoxyacetylene, methyl vinyl ketone, crotonaldehyde and 1-methoxyallene yields stable [C₄H₆O]^+· ions, whereas the cyclic C₄H₆O compounds undergo ring opening to stable distonic ions. The structures of [C₂H₃O]^+· ions produced by 70-eV ionization of several C₄H₆O compounds are identical with that of the ketene radical cation. The [C₃H₆]^+· ions generated from crotonaldehyde, methacrylaldehyde, and cyclopropanecarboxaldehyde have structures similar to that of the propene radical cations, whereas those ions generated from the remainder of the [C₄H₆O]^+· ions studied here produced a mixed population of cyclopropane and propene radical cations.     

Energy partitioning in the metastable fragmentation [C3H7]+ → [C3H5]+ + H2

The dish-topped metastable peak for the fragmentation [C₃H₇]⁺ → [allyl]⁺ + H₂ is generated by the threshold fragmentation. The fraction of the reverse activation energy which is partitioned as translational energy of the products is 0.9 ± 0.1. It is proposed that a similar partitioning coefficient applies to the excess internal energy above threshold.     

Positive chemical ionization triple‐quadrupole mass spectrometry and ab initio computational studies of the multi‐pathway fragmentation of phthalates

We report the first positive chemical ionization (PCI) fragmentation mechanisms of phthalates using triple‐quadrupole mass spectrometry and ab initio computational studies using density functional theories (DFT). Methane PCI spectra showed abundant [M + H]⁺, together with [M + C₂H₅]⁺ and [M + C₃H₅]⁺. Fragmentation of [M + H]⁺, [M + C₂H₅]⁺ and [M + C₃H₅]⁺ involved characteristic ions at m/z 149, 177 and 189, assigned as protonated phthalic anhydride and an adduct of phthalic anhydride with C₂H₅⁺ and C₃H₅⁺, respectively. Fragmentation of these ions provided more structural information from the PCI spectra. A multi‐pathway fragmentation was proposed for these ions leading to the protonated phthalic anhydride. DFT methods were used to calculate relative free energies and to determine structures of intermediate ions for these pathways. The first step of the fragmentation of [M + C₂H₅]⁺ and [M + C₃H₅]⁺ is the elimination of [R? H] from an ester group. The second ester group undergoes either a McLafferty rearrangement route or a neutral loss elimination of ROH. DFT calculations (B3LYP, B3PW91 and BPW91) using 6‐311G(d,p) basis sets showed that McLafferty rearrangement of dibutyl, di(‐n‐octyl) and di(2‐ethyl‐n‐hexyl) phthalates is an energetically more favorable pathway than loss of an alcohol moiety. Prominent ions in these pathways were confirmed with deuterium labeled phthalates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrogen migrations in mass spectrometry. II—single and double hydrogen migrations in the electron impact fragmentation of n-propyl benzoate

The sources of the migrant hydrogen atom(s) in reactions (a) and (b) in the electron impact mass spectrum of n-propyl benzoate have been investigated: (a) [C₆H₅CO₂C₃H₇]⁺ →[C₆H₅CO₂H]⁺ + C₃H₆; (b) [C₆H₅CO₂C₃H₇]⁺ → [C₆H₅CO₂H₂]⁺ + C₃H₅^sdot;. Deuterium labelling of the propyl group showed that, for reaction (a) at 70 eV ionizing energy 3 ± 1% of the hydrogen originates from C-1 of the propyl group, 86 ± 4% from C-2 and 11 ± 3% from C-3. The specificity of the transfer from C-2 increases as the internal energy of the fragmenting ions decreases, indicating that the results cannot be rationalized in terms of H/D interchanges between positions in the propyl group, but rather that the reaction involves specific, competing, H transfer reactions from each propyl position, in contrast to the high site specificity characteristic of the McLafferty rearrangement. Reaction (b) involves, almost exclusively, transfer of one hydrogen from C-2 and one from C-3 with only very minor participation of C-1 hydrogens. The [C₆H₅COOH]⁺ ion produced in reaction (a) fragments further to [C₆H₅CO]⁺ + OH. and the labelling results indicate some interchange of the carboxylic hydrogen with (ortho) ring hydrogens for those ions fragmenting in the first drift region. The extent of interchange is less than that observed for fragmentation of the same ion produced by direct ionization of benzoic acid or by reaction (a) in ethyl benzoate.     

An investigation of the mechanism of single and double hydrogen atom transfer reactions in alkyl benzoates by the ortho effect

Single and double hydrogen atom transfers in reactions (1) and (2) in the mass spectra of ethyl benzoate, isopropyl benzoate, and isobutyl benzoate have been investigated with reference to the ortho effect: (1) [C₆H₅CO₂R]⁺? → [C₆H₅CO₂H]⁺? (m/z 122) + (R-H); (2) [C₆H₅CO₂R]⁺? → [C₆H₅CO₂H₂]⁺ (m/z 123) + · (R-2H). It is demonstrated that the intermediate ion [C₆H₅CO₂H₂]⁺ has the protonated benzoic acid structure with the hydrogen atom on the carbonyl group.     

Charge separation reactions of doubly charged benzene ions

Photoion-photoion coincidence spectra of benzene and benzene-d₆ photoionized by He(II) light and synchrotron radiation show the existence of six major and eight minor charge-separation reactions of the [C₆H₆]²⁺ ion. Three main groups of ion pairs are related to [C₃H₃]⁺ + [C₃H₃]⁺, [C₂H₃]⁺ + [C₄H₃]⁺ and [CH₃]⁺ + [C₅H₃]⁺, with appearance energies of 32.2 ± 0.5 eV, 31.3 ± 0.5 eV and 28.4 ± 0.3 eV. The kinetic energy release is the same for all pairs within a group, irrespective of hydrogen number, but differs from group to group. Results are interpreted in terms of fast, direct charge separation of [C₆H₆]²⁺, and subsequent hydrogen loss by the singly charged fragments.     

Structure and mechanism of fragmentation of [C2H5O]+

The decomposition reactions of [C₂H₅O]⁺ ions produced by dissociative electron-impact ionization of 2-propanol have been studied, using ¹³C and deuterium labeling coupled with metastable intensity studies. In addition, the fragmentation reactions following protonation of appropriately labeled acetaldehydes and ethylene oxides with [H₃]⁺ or [D₃]⁺ have been investigated. In both studies particular attention has been paid to the reactions leading to [CHO]⁺, [C₂H₃]⁺ and [H₃O]⁺. In both the electron-impact-induced reactions and the chemical ionization systems the fragmentation of [C₂H₅O]⁺ to both [H₃O]⁺ and [C₂H₃]⁺ proceeds by a single mechanism. For each case the reaction involves a mechanism in which the hydrogen originally bonded to oxygen is retained in the oxygen containing fragment while the four hydrogens originally bonded to carbon become indistinguishable. The fragmentation of [C₂H₅O]⁺ to produce [CHO]⁺ proceeds by a number of mechanisms. The lowest energy route involves complete retention of the α carbon and hydrogen while a higher energy route proceeds by a mechanism in which the carbons and the attached hydrogens become indistinguishable. A third distinct mechanism, observed in the electron-impact spectra only, proceeds with retention of the hydroxylic hydrogen in the product ion. Detailed fragmentation mechanisms are proposed to explain the results. It is suggested that the [C₂H₅O]⁺ ions formed by protonation of acetaldehyde or ionization of 2-propanol are produced initially with the structure [CH₃CH?\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \mathop {\rm O}\limits^ + $\end{document}H] (a), but isomerize to [CH₂?CH? \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \mathop {\rm O}\limits^ + $\end{document}H₂] (e) prior to decomposition to [C₂H₃]⁺ or [H₃O]⁺. The results indicate that the isomerization a → e does not proceed directly, possibly because it is symmetry forbidden, but by two consecutive [1,2] hydrogen shifts. A more general study of the electron-impact mass spectrum of 2-propanol has been made and the fragmentation reactions proceeding from the molecular ion have been identified.     

Fragmentation of protonated O,O-diethyl O-aryl phosphorothionates in tandem mass spectral analysis

The gas-phase ion chemistry of protonated O,O-diethyl O-aryl phosphorothionates was studied with tandem mass spectrometric and ab initio theoretical methods. Collision-activated dissociation (CAD) experiments were performed for the [M+H]⁺ ions on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Various amounts of internal energy were deposited into the ions upon CAD by variation of the collision energy and collision gas pressure. In addition to isobutane, deuterated isobutane C₄D₁₀ also was used as reagent gas in chemical ionization. The daughter ions [M+H?C₂H₄]⁺ and [M+H?2C₂H₄]⁺ dominate the CAD spectra. These fragments arise via various pathways, each of which involves γ-proton migration. Formation of the terminal ions [M+H?2C₂H₄?H₂O]⁺, [M+H?2C₂H₄?H₂S]⁺, [ZPhOH₂]⁺, [ZPhSH₂]⁺, and [ZPhS]⁺ [Z = substituent(s) on the benzene ring] suggests that (1) the fragmenting [M+H]⁺ ions of O,O-diethyl O-aryl phosphorothionates have protons attached on the oxygen of an ethoxy group and on the oxygen of the phenoxy group; (2) thiono-thiolo rearrangement by aryl migration to sulfur occurs; (3) the fragmenting rear-ranged [M+H]⁺ ions have protons attached on the oxygen of an ethoxy group and on the sulfur of the thiophenoxy group. To get additional support for our interpretation of the mass spectrometric results, some characteristics of three protomers of O,O-diethyl O-phenyl phosphorothionate were investigated by carrying out ab initio molecular orbital calculations at the RHF/3–21G* level of theory.     

Interaction of the trimethylsilyl cation with molecules of aliphatic nitro compounds in the gas phase

Interaction of mononitroalkanes with the trimethylsilyl cation in the gas phase under chemical ionization (CI) conditions results in the formation of [M+SiMe₃]⁺ ions, which are more stable than the corresponding protonated molecular ions. In the case of 2-nitro-2-methylpropane and 2-nitropentane, fragmentation of the [M+SiMe₃]⁺ ions occurs with the formation of C₄H₉ ⁺ and C₅H₁₁ ⁺ carbocations, respectively. In the case of 1,1-dinitroethane and 1-halo-1,1-dinitroethane, fragmentation of the [M+SiMe₃]⁺ ions occurs with splitting off of a NO₂ ^. radical or an XNO₂ molecule (X=H, F, or Cl). Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1232–1234, June, 1997.     

Thermochemistry and metastable energy release for the dissociation [C3H7]+ → [C3H5]+ + H2

The reverse activation energy, E_rev, for the dissociation [C₃H₇]⁺ → [C₃H₅]⁺ + H₂ has been determined as 0.24 ± 0.06 eV from measurements of the AP of [C₃H₅]+ produced by electron-impact from thermally generated sec-C₃H₇ radicals. The energy release observed in the corresponding metastable dissociation is 0.21 ± 0.01 eV, indicating that virtually all of E_rev is partitioned as translational Kinetic energy of the fragmentation products. The metastable ion peak shape is also discussed with respect to the evaluation of the energy release.     

Energetics of the loss of H2 from [C3H7]+

The internal energies of [C₃H₇]⁺ ions contributing to the metastable peak [C₃H₇]⁺ → [C₃H₅]⁺ + H₂ are higher (by perhaps > 100 kJ mol^?1) than those of the ion contributing to the threshold current in appearance energy measurements on [C₃H₅]⁺. The measured appearance energy may lead to an underestimation of the activation energy, i.e. negative ‘kinetic shift’, due to quantum, mechanical tunnelling. The distribution of energy released in the decomposition can be explained on the basis that much of the reverse activation energy and a statistical proportion of the excess energy is released as translation.     

CH2 + transfer to pyridine nucleophiles: a means of producing α-distonic ions

The distonic radical cation C₅H₅N⁺?^·CH₂ can be generated by the reactions of neutral pyridine with the radical cations of cyclopropane, ethylene oxide, and ketene, as well as with the [C₃H₆]⁺ ion from fragmentation of tetrahydrofuran. The distonic product ion can be distinguished from isomeric methylpyridine radical cations because the former gives characteristic [M?CH₂]⁺, [M ? CH₂NCH]⁺, and a doubly charged ion, all of which are produced on collisional activation. Furthermore, the distonic species completely transfers CH₂ ⁺ to more nucleophilic, substituted pyridines. These properties are all consistent with the assigned distonic structure. Another distonic isomer, the (3-methylene) pyridinium ion, can be distinguished from the (1-methylene)pyridinium ion on the basis of their different fragmentation behaviors. The latter ion exhibits higher stability (lower reactivity) than the prototypal [·CH₂NH₃ ⁺], making available a distonic species whose bimolecular reactivity can be readily investigated.     

Charge stripping mass spectra: A method for identifying isomeric [C5H8]+˙ and [C3H6]+˙ ions

Charge stripping (collisional ionization) mass spectra are reported for isomeric [C₅H₈]⁺˙ and [C₃H₆]⁺˙ ions. The results provide the first method for adequately quantitatively determining the structures and abundances of these species when they are generated as daughter ions. Thus, loss of H₂O from the molecular ions of cyclopentanol and pentanal is shown to produce mixtures of ionized penta-1,3- and -1,4-dienes. Pent-1-en-3-ol generates [penta-1,3-diene]⁺˙. [C₃H₆]⁺˙ ions from ionized butane, methylpropane and 2-methylpropan-1-ol are shown to have the [propene]⁺˙ structure, whereas [cyclopropane]⁺˙ is produced from ionized tetrahydrofuran, penta-1,3-diene and pent-1-yne.