Charge-remote and charge-driven fragmentation processes in diacyl glycerophosphoethanolamine upon low-energy collisional activation: A mechanistic proposal

A mechanistic study of diacyl glycerophosphoethanolamine fragmentation under low energy collision-activated dissociation with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry is reported. The fragmentation pathways leading to the formation of carboxylate anions (RxCO2-) (x = 1, 2) and the formation of the ions representing neutral loss of ketene ([M - H - Rx'CH=C=O]-) are charge-driven processes, which are governed by the gas-phase basicity and the steric configuration of the molecules. The fragmentation pathway for the formation of the [M - H - RxCO2H]- ions, reflecting neutral loss of fatty acid, is a charge-remote process, which involves the participation of the hydrogens at C-1 and C-2 of the glycerol, resulting in [M - H - R2CO2H]- > [M - H - R1CO2H]-. The preferential formations of R2CO2- > R1CO2-, and of [M - H - R2'CH=C=O]- > [M - H - R1'CH=C=O]- are attributed to the findings that charge-driven processes are sterically more favorable at sn-2. The observation of the abundance of [M - H - Rx'CH=C=O]- > [M - H - RxCO2H]- is attributed to the fact that the [M - H]- ions of GPE are basic precursor ions, which undergo preferential loss of ketene than loss of acid. The major pathway for the formation of RxCO2- ions arises from the nucleophilic attack of the anionic charge site of the phosphate on the C-1 or C-2 of the glycerol to render a charge transfer. The sterically more favorable attack on the C-2 than C-2 of the glycerol results in the abundance of R2CO2- > R1CO2-. These features of tandem spectra readily identify and locate the fatty acid substituents of GPE in the glycerol backbone.     

Charge-remote fragmentation of taurine-conjugated bile acids

Taurine-conjugated bile acids are an important group of biological metabolites. When investigated by negative-ion fast-atom bombardment collision-induced dissociation mass spectroscopy they show charge-remote fragmentations of the [M-H]- pseudomolecular ion. These fragmentations provide information on the positions of ring substituents remote from the charge site. In the present work we have compared the negative-ion fast-atom bombardment collision-induced dissociation spectra of six different conjugated bile acids.     

Charge-remote and charge-proximate fragmentation processes in alkali-cationized fatty acid esters upon high-energy collisional activation. A new mechanistic proposal

The effect of the metal ion on the high-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) of alkali metal-cationized n-butyl and methyl ester derivatives of palmitic and oleic acid was examined. The results show that the alkali metal ion has a pronounced effect and does not act as a mere ‘spectator’ ion with respect to the fragmentation process. While C–H cleavage is a dominant process for [M+Li]⁺ as well as [M+Na]⁺ precursor ions, C–C cleavage is also significant for the [M+Na]⁺ ions. Homolytic mechanisms involving the formation of a transient biradical cation are proposed which enable us to rationalize in a straightforward manner all product ions formed by both charge-remote and charge-proximate fragmentations. The mechanistic proposal is discussed in view of available knowledge on electron impact, CID and related processes. In order to predict how the alkali metal ion could affect the reactivity of the postulated biradical state formed following electronic excitation of the alkali metal-cationized molecules, quantum chemical calculations were performed on methyl and n-butyl acetate as model substances. The decreased spin density at the carbonyl oxygen atom in the biradical state may provide an explanation for the greater tendency towards C–C cleavage reactions of the sodium-cationized fatty acid esters relative to the corresponding lithium complexes. © 1988 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal fragmentations of nitrated 8-quinolinols

8-Quinolinols which are substituted in the aromatic nucleus by nitro-, chloro-, or by sulfonic acid groups underwent a neat thermal fragmentation upon heating in 75% nitric acid as reaction medium yielding 2,3-dicarboxypyridinium nitrate. The scope and the mechanism of these reactions are discussed.     

Unusual fragmentations under polonovski reaction conditions

N_b-oxides $\text{2a}$ and $\text{2b}$ in the presence of acetic anhydride led to products $\text{5}$, $\text{7}$ or $\text{8}$ with participation of the indole nucleus during the fragmentation reaction.     

Charge-remote fragmentation characteristics of functionalized alkanes in high-energy collision-induced dissociation

In this study we report on high-energy, collision-induced dissociation processes leading to charge-remote fragmentations, using three alkyl cations, namely n-hexadecylpyridinium, n-hexadecyltriphenylphosphonium and n-hexadecyltriethylammonium, each with and without (2)H(2)-labelling at the C(9) position of the hexadecyl chain. The characteristic patterns corresponding to the formal elimination of alkane elements were observed, and the (2)H(2)-labelling at C(9) clearly affected only one charge-remote fragment ion of the homologous series. However, in addition to the expected fragment ion containing only one deuterium atom, a significant ion retaining two deuterium atoms was observed. MS/MS/MS experiments demonstrated clearly that the latter ion showed partial deuteration around the charge site, the level of deuteration depending on the structure of the original precursor cation. These results can be interpreted in terms of two novel, distinct mechanisms, one of which involves an excited state in an aromatic ring. Mixed-site fragmentation (MSF) ions were also observed from the phosphonium and ammonium ion precursors. We believe that the observation of the MSF process occurring at an sp(2)-hybridized center in the phosphonium series has not been reported previously. It thus becomes apparent that high-energy collisions leading to charge-remote reactions in fact lead to a broad range of pathways. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure-specific fragmentations of 2,2,4-trisubstituted 1,2-dihydroquinazolines

Fragmentations of a series of 2,2,4-trisubstituted 1,2-dihydroquinazolines were studied by electron impact (EI) ionization and positive- and negative-ion fast atom bombardment (FAB) coupled with collision-induced decomposition (CID). The EI mass spectra give information that directly indicates the specific location of each substituent. The FAB–CID spectra provide data regarding the masses of each substituent, but no definitive information regarding location.     

Organomelemental fragmentations : I. Direct and retro fragmentations in organometallic benzyl compounds. Aromatisational metallation

Organometallic benzyl compounds are known to react with eletrophilic agents via two paths, viz., by direct substitution of the metal by the agent, and by attack of the ortho- and para-positions of the ring. The latter reaction leads to expulsion of the metal and formation of unstable triene intermediates (1-methylene-2,4-cyclohexadienes and 1-methylene-2,5-cyclohexadienes). By attributing these processes to electrophilic fragmentations (referred to as F_E) a new process may be predicted to occur, electrpohilic addition of metal salts to the exo-methylene site of trienes of this type. This process can be regarded as the reverse of the fragmentation reaction. The F_E representation proposed here forms the basis for a new organometallic synthesis, aromatisational metallation. It is shown that interaction of 1-methylene-6-ethyl-2,4-cyclohexadiene and 1-methylene-4-ethyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene with mercury dichloride in ether results in the formation of o- and p-ethylbenzylmercury chlorides, respectively.     

Charge-remote fragmentation: an account of research on mechanisms and applications

Charge-remote fragmentation is one class of decomposition reactions of gas-phase ions. Their discovery and applications had to await the development of soft ionization, particularly fast atom bombardment, and tandem mass spectrometry. The decompositions are particularly informative and allow functional groups to be identified and located in fatty acids, surfactants, steroids, complex lipids, and related materials. These are difficult structure assignments to make by other mass-spectrometry methods or by nuclear magnetic resonance and other spectroscopic techniques. Thus, charge-remote fragmentation fills an important need in structural chemistry. The mechanisms of charge-remote fragmentation underpin their structural utility, and they are still a matter of some debate. In this account, we discuss the discovery of charge-remote fragmentation in our laboratory. Further, we describe our efforts to understand their mechanism and to exploit their high information content in structure determinations of fatty acid and related materials.     

Externally sensitized mesolytic fragmentations in dithiane-ketone adducts

The apparent activation enthalpies, ΔH^≠, for externally sensitized mesolytic fragmentations in benzophenone-dithiane adducts were obtained in variable temperature photolyses and compared with DFT activation barriers calculated for β-scission in the corresponding oxygen-centered radicals. The results of these experimental and theoretical studies further support the mechanism in which deprotonation of the hydroxy-group, in the transient cation radical, is coupled with intramolecular electron transfer furnishing the O-centered radical, which subsequently fragments. The quantum yields of fragmentation increase for higher alkyl substituted dithiane adducts.     

Unimolecular fragmentations of long-chain aliphatic iminium ions

The metastable ion characteristics of N-alkyl-N-methylmethyleneiminium ions ($ {\rm H}_2 {\rm C}=\!=\mathop {\rm N}\limits^ + ({\rm CH}_3){\rm R} $, R = n-C_mH_{2m + 1}, m = 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 14, 18) are reported and discussed. For R = n-propyl, alkene loss by onium reaction and alkene loss by McLafferty rearrangement occur, whereas for the higher homologues only the latter reaction is observed. As a result of ²H and ¹³C labelling experiments, the mechanism of alkene loss by γ-H transfer and β-cleavage does not change with increasing chain length and the iminium ions do not isomerize prior to decomposition, neither by H–D scrambling nor by carbon skeleton rearrangement. Whereas the sequence of elementary steps during fragmentation is not affected, the energetics of the reaction change as the chain length increases. Resulting from thermodynamic estimations, the enthalpy of reaction ΔH_r, critical energy E₀ and reverse critical energy E_0r diminish markedly as R increases from n-propyl to n-octadecyl. The knowledge of the reaction energetics including kinetic energy release data allows information about partitioning of excess energy into internal and translational degrees of freedom to be deduced.     

Structural determination of oxofatty acids by charge-remote fragmentations

A strategy is described to locate the carbonyl position in oxofatty acids by utilizing charge-remote fragmentations of various molecular ions that are desorbed by fast atom bombardment (FAB). Oxofatty acids were cationized with alkali metal ions (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺) to form [M+2Met?H]⁺ or alkaline earth metal ions (Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺ or Ba²⁺) to form [M+Met?H]⁺ in the gas phase. The cationized acids undergo charge-remote fragmentations upon high-energy activation, giving a product-ion pattern that has a gap corresponding to the oxo position and bordered by two high-intensity peaks. One of the peaks corresponds to an ion that is formed by the cleavage of the C-C bond β to the oxo position and proximal to the charge (β ion), whereas the other is formed from the cleavage of the C-C bond γ to the oxo position and distal to the charge (γ′ ion). The oxo position is easily determined by identifying the gap and the β and γ′ ions. Furthermore, there are two competing patterns of fragments in a CAD spectrum of an oxofatty acid or ester [M+Li]⁺ ion. These arise because Li⁺ attaches to either the oxo or the carboxylic end, as was confirmed by ab initio molecular orbital calculations. The results demonstrate that control of the fragmentation can be guided by an understanding of metal-ion affinities. Collisional activation of the anionic carboxylates gives results that are similar to those for positive ions, showing that the process is not related to the charge status. Collisional activation of [M+H]⁺ ions does not give structural information because the charge migrates, leading to charge-mediated fragmentations.     

The electron-impact-induced fragmentations of some substituted 3-aminopropionitriles

As a part of our study of the chemistry of simulated Jovian atmospheres, we have synthesized a series of twelve alkyl aminopropionitriles to serve as model compounds. The spectra of these compounds have been obtained, and the transitions which are observed have been further investigated by scanning in the metastable mode and by obtaining the spectra of deuterium labeled 3-(N-ethylamino)propionitrile. The fragmentations which are observed are dominated by the amine group.     

Charge-remote fragmentation of lithiated fatty acids on a TOF-TOF instrument using matrix-ionization

In numerous studies charge remote fragmentation (CRF) has been shown to be a powerful technique for determination of primary structure by allowing location of double bonds, various functional groups, and branching in a variety of compound types directly by mass spectrometry. Instrumentation and ionization methods traditionally used for CRF, however, are becoming rare, in large part because ESI and MALDI have to a significant extent replaced them. Here we demonstrate that by selecting a matrix that promotes rather than suppresses ionization of fatty acids (FA) by lithium ion adduction, and using a TOF-TOF mass spectrometer for high-energy collisional activation, CRF ions are produced that allow location of double-bond and branching positions. Further, we show that by using solvent-free MALDI sample preparation methods, thus eliminating the inherent segregation of the hydrophobic fatty acid from the hydrophilic LiCl that can occur during the evaporation of solvent, the desired [FA-H+2Li](+) ions are greatly enhanced. Because FAs can be vaporized using laser desorption, matrix assistance in desorption of the fatty acid may occur, but is not necessary. However, the matrix plays a crucial role in enhancing or suppressing ionization. For example, matrix materials with acid (e.g., 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid) or hydroxy groups (e.g., dithranol) compete with the FA for Li(+) and because of the high ratio of matrix to analyte, FA lithium adduction is minimized. However, highly electron-deficient matrix materials (e.g., TCNQ) readily donate Li(+) to FAs because of the instability associated with being positively charged.     

Shell effects on symmetric fragmentations of alkali-metal clusters

Symmetric fragmentation of multiply charged alkali-metal clusters consisting of several tens of atoms is studied. The energy variation during the fragmentation process is calculated using the theory ofshell corrections, in which total energy is written as a sum of the liquid-droplet and shell correction terms. It is found that the variation of the shell correction term is much larger than that of the liquid-droplet one if the parent cluster is metastable. Fragmentation into nearly-magic cluster is most favored regardless of parent size since the barrier height for fragmentation is mainly determined by the shell configuration of fragments rather than that of the parent.     

Evidence for radical fragmentations from persistent singlet carbenes

Upon warm up, persistent aminohydrazinocarbenes undergo beta-fragmentation reactions. Experimental as well as computational evidences are reported for the involvement of radical processes. This is the first example of a homolytic fragmentation for a persistent singlet carbene.     

Mass spectral fragmentations of cholesterol acetate oxidation products

In this work, electron-impact mass spectroscopy (EI-MS) was employed on a wide range of sterol compounds in order to study their behaviour with regard to their functional groups. In particular, some specific mechanisms of fragmentation occurring in these substrates (i.e. retro-Diels-Alder reaction, neutral molecules eliminations, specific hydrogen migrations) were investigated. Loss of the alkyl side chain and of the D ring were observed in all cases. Finally, a classification of sterols on the basis of characteristic mass spectral fragments is suggested, and further applications to substrates with functional groups on positions other than the A and B rings is proposed.