Metastable transitions in n-butane and n-butane-d7

Metastable ions have been investigated for n-butane d₇ molecular ions using a tandem mass spectrometer which samples unimolecular decay processes occuring during the time interval of c.2 μs to 4 ms after ion formation. Some 37% of ions formed by 70 eV electron impact decay on this time scale. The competing unimolecular processes observed, in order of relative importance, are methance, methyl radical and hydrogen atom elimination. The slow metastables sample the threshold energy regime of unimolecular reactions responsible for forming the ordinary mass spectrum of butance and very large isotope effect are noted for the deuterated molecule.     

Tandem mass spectrometric study of 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene molecular ion: an unusual ortho effect involving a hydrogen atom from the aromatic ring

Unimolecular (metastable) and collision-induced dissociation of 1,3, 5-trinitrobenzene molecular ion was studied using linked scans and mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy spectrometry on a hybrid instrument of EBEqQ geometry. An unusual ortho effect leading to the loss of OH radical from the parent molecular ion is observed as a unimolecular dissociation process only in the first-field free region between the ion source and the electric sector, although corresponding dissociation in the ion source is of negligible abundance (<0.1%). This unimolecular process is taken over by other dissociation pathways when the parent ion is collisionally activated, suggesting that this dissociation process occurs only in a very narrow energy window with a rate constant of the order of 2 x 10(5) s(-1). Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2—羟基—4—邻苯二甲酰亚胺基丁酸的氢迁移反应

在甲烷为反应气的化学电离质谱条件下，质子化的２－羟基－４－邻苯二甲酰亚胺基丁酸的单分子质谱碎裂产生了ｍ／ｚ１４８的碎片离子，表明其碎裂过程发生了氢迁移反应，ＡＭ在分子轨道的理论计算结果为可能的质子化位置提供了理论依据；建立在氘代同位素标记和碰撞诱导解离实验的基础上，我们提出此离子的形成可能同时存在单氢迁移和双氢迁移，一些质谱图中的物征碎片中离子为可能的ＭｃＬａｆｆｅｒｔｙ重排和离子／中性（碎片）复     

Unimolecular and collision-induced fragmentation of protonated nitroarenes

The unimolecular fragmentation reactions of 28 protonated nitroarenes, occurring on the metastable ion time-scale, are reported. In addition, the collision-induced fragmentation of the same species have been studied at 10 eV and at 50 eV collision energy. When an OH, COOH or NH₂ substituent is ortho to the nitro function, the dominant fragmentation involves loss of H₂O, for both unimolecular and collision-induced reactions. When there is an electron-releasing substituent ortho or para to the litro group, loss of OH is the dominant fragmentation reaction both on the metastable ion time-scale and for ions activated by collision. When the electron-releasing substituent is meta to the nitro group, loss of NO₂ is the dominant low-energy unimolecular fragmentation reaction while loss of HNO₂ is the most important fragmentation for ions activated by 50 eV collisions. Elimination of NO from [MH]⁺ occurs to a significant extent in the unimolecular fragmentation of protonated nitrobenzene and those protenated nitrobenzenes containing electron- attracting substituents. In the collision-induced dissociation of these species loss of HNO₂ occurs at the expense of loss of NO. The results are consistent with protonation predominantly at the nitro group. The results are discussed in terms of the use of neutral loss scans in tandem mass spectrometry to monitor complex mixtures for nitroarenes.     

Consecutive reactions in the vitamin D series. A New insight into the mechanism of vitamin D and provitamin D isomerizations in the mass spectrometer

The individual steps of the consecutive reactions arising from metastable molecular ions, derived from vitamin D₃, vitamin D₂ and their respective provitamins (7-dehydrocholesterol, ergosterol), were examined in different field-free regions of a triple-sector mass spectrometer of B/E/E geometry. The comparison of the translational energy release (T) and the metastable peak shapes corresponding to these reactions, as well as unimolecular and collision-induced dissociation mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectra, showed that there are probably two structures of the [M – H₂O]⁺˙ and [M – CH₃˙]⁺ ions depending upon whether the respective ions are formed in the ion source through high-energy reactions, or from the fragmentation of metastable molecular ions through slow, low-energy processes which occur in the first field-free region.     

Fragmentation pathways of [Mg(NH3)n]2+ complexes: electron capture versus charge separation

New experimental results are presented from a detailed study of gas-phase [Mg(NH(3))(n)](2+) complexes and their fragmentation pathways. The reactions examined range from those observed as metastable (unimolecular) decompositions through to collision-induced processes, which have been accessed using a variety of collision gases. Measurements of ion intensity distributions coupled with unimolecular decay studies show that [Mg(NH(3))(4)](2+) not only is the most intense species detected but also sits at a critical boundary between complexes that are unstable with respect to charge separation and those that are sufficiently solvated to be deemed stable on the time scale of the experiment. Metastable fragmentation patterns have been used to provide information on the evolution of solvent structure around the central dication. In addition to highlighting the particular significance of [Mg(NH(3))(4)](2+), these measurements show some evidence to suggest the buildup of structures via a hydrogen-bonded network to give conformers of the form (4+1) and (4+2), respectively. Collision-induced dissociation studies show the ions to exhibit several fragmentation pathways, including the loss of NH(3) and NH(3) + H, which are promoted primarily through electron capture dissociation (ECD). This picture contrasts with the conclusion from a number of earlier studies that collisional activation mainly promotes charge separation. From the results presented it is suggested that electron capture may play a more dominant role in the charge reduction of multiply charged metal-ligand species than had previously been appreciated.     

Fragmentation Reactions of Adduct Ions [M CH_3CO]~ of IsomericPhenylenediamines

Acetonehasbeenusedasachemicalionization(CI)reagentgasinaconventionalionsourceandfoundtoproducenumerousreagentions,whichreactwithdifferentclassesofcompoundstoformavarietyofadductions,mostlyusedtogainmolecularmasses,stereochemicalstructureinformation,toassistinthedifferentiationofvariousisomersandalsotogivecharacteristicreactionwithdifferentfunctionalgroups'w'.Intramolecularfunctionalgroupinteractionsplayimportantrolesinthedissociationreactionsofgas-phaseions6".Theadductions[M CH,CO] formedbyi…     

顺,反式环丙烷衍生物异构体的区分

在化学电离条件下，研究了４种顺、反式环丙烷衍生物与丙酮和醋酸乙烯酸乙烯酯的分子离子反应。异构体１，２的丙酮ＣＩ谱及其加合离子「Ｍ＋Ｈ＋Ａ」的ＣＩＤ谱都 可以区分该对异构体。化合物２，３和４可以和质子化丙酮及质子化二聚体发生加合反应，但化合物１仅能与质子化丙酮发生加合反应。在醋酸乙烯酯的ＣＩ谱中，观察到４个化合物的质子化二聚体，其中异构体１，２的质子化二聚体的ＣＩＤ谱也能反映它们立体结构的差异。     

Differentiation of ionised benzimidazole from its isomeric alpha-distonic ion by collision-induced dissociation and neutralisation-reionisation mass spectrometry

Ionised benzimidazole and its isomeric alpha-distonic ion (or ionised ylid) have been examined by recording their metastable ion, collision-induced dissociation and neutralisation-reionisation mass spectra. These tautomers may be distinguished by careful consideration of key features of the collision-induced dissociation spectra, with or without prior neutralisation and reionisation. Formation of doubly-charged ions by charge stripping occurs preferentially when the alpha-distonic ion is subjected to collision. This alpha-distonic ion survives neutralisation and reionisation, thus establishing that the corresponding ylid is stable on the microsecond time frame. The effects of benzannulation on the ease of differentiation of classical and distonic radical cations derived from biologically important heterocycles are considered.     

243～263nm CH3COCH3 的多光子电离研究

在243～263 nm紫外光波段通过质量选择光电离激发谱研究了丙酮（CH3COCH3）的光化学反应通道。分析母体离子CH3COCH3+和碎片离子CH3CO+ 、 CH3+的光电离激发谱和质谱峰宽可以知道: 此光波段丙酮分子的光化学反应主要包括了丙酮分子经由(S1,T1)中间态产生母体离子的（1+1）双光子电离通道,母体离子进一步解离产生碎片离子CH3+的“光电离-光解离”通道和丙酮分子经由(S1,T1)中间态解离成中性自由基碎片CH3CO后再进一步被双光子电离的“光解离-光电离”通道。由母体离子光电离激发谱双光子阈值波长（255.67 nm）给出的丙酮电离势（IP）为（9.696±0.004）eV。     

Electron impact-induced fragmentation of 2,1-benzisothiazoline 2,2-dioxide

The electron impact-induced fragmentation patterns of 2,1-benzisothiazoline 2,2-dioxide nitro derivatives were studied. The rationalizations proposed for the fragmentations are supported by accurate mass measurements, daughter ion (mass analysed ion kinetic energy and B/E linked-scan), parent ion, and constant neutral loss spectra in metastable and collision-induced dissociation modes and deuterium labelling.     

Time-dependence of the electron-impact-induced unimolecular decay process C3H8+ → C3H7+ + H

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been modified to study directly the time dependence of metastable decay processes by introducing a variable time delay between the ionization and extraction pulses and by providing a set of retarding plates and grids in the flight tube to select a single parent ion species for study and to resolve the peak into parent ion, daughter ion and daughter neutral components. The experimentally determined time dependence of the unimolecular decay process C₃H₈⁺ → C₃H₇⁺ + H is compared with previously published predictions of the quasiequilibrium theory of mass spectra.     

The modern mass spectrometer—a complete chemical laboratory

Using nitrobenzene as an example, various ways in which a contemporary mass spectrometer can be utilized to yield a wealth of information about the compound studied are reviewed. Applying a variety of different techniques and procedures, in addition to the conventional low resolution mass spectrum, the following nitrobenzene spectra have been obtained: collision induced dissociation mass spectrum, mass analysed ion kinetic energy spectra, collision induced dissociation mass analysed ion kinetic energy spectra, spectra obtained at constant B/E, spectra obtained at constant B²/E, high voltage scans of metastable ion fragmentation processes, consecutive fragmentations in different field free regions, charge exchange mass spectra, charge stripping mass spectra, doubly charged ion mass spectra, chemical ionization mass spectra, negative ion mass spectra, negative ion mass analysed ion kinetic energy spectra, negative ion mass analysed ion kinetic energy collision induced dissociation spectra, charge inversion spectra, etc. The complementary types of information available from the above studies are discussed to show the unique versatility of mass spectrometry as a technique for the examination of organic compounds.     

Ion activation methods for tandem mass spectrometry

This tutorial presents the most common ion activation techniques employed in tandem mass spectrometry. In-source fragmentation and metastable ion decompositions, as well as the general theory of unimolecular dissociations of ions, are initially discussed. This is followed by tandem mass spectrometry, which implies that the activation of ions is distinct from the ionization step, and that the precursor and product ions are both characterized independently by their mass/charge ratios. In collision-induced dissociation (CID), activation of the selected ions occurs by collision(s) with neutral gas molecules in a collision cell. This experiment can be done at high (keV) collision energies, using tandem sector and time-of-flight instruments, or at low (eV range) energies, in tandem quadrupole and ion trapping instruments. It can be performed using either single or multiple collisions with a selected gas and each of these factors influences the distribution of internal energy that the activated ion will possess. While CID remains the most common ion activation technique employed in analytical laboratories today, several new methods have become increasingly useful for specific applications. More recent techniques are examined and their differences, advantages and disadvantages are described in comparison with CID. Collisional activation upon impact of precursor ions on solid surfaces, surface-induced dissociation (SID), is gaining importance as an alternative to gas targets and has been implemented in several different types of mass spectrometers. Furthermore, unique fragmentation mechanisms of multiply-charged species can be studied by electron-capture dissociation (ECD). The ECD technique has been recognized as an efficient means to study non-covalent interactions and to gain sequence information in proteomics applications. Trapping instruments, such as quadrupole ion traps and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance instruments, are particularly useful for the photoactivation of ions, specifically for fragmentation of precursor ions by infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD). IRMPD is a non-selective activation method and usually yields rich fragmentation spectra. Lastly, blackbody infrared radiative dissociation is presented with a focus on determining activation energies and other important parameters for the characterization of fragmentation pathways. The individual methods are presented so as to facilitate the understanding of each mechanism of activation and their particular advantages and representative applications.     

丙硫咪唑的离子/中性碎片复合物中间体质谱碎裂

报道了丙硫咪唑（5-丙硫基-苯并咪唑-2-氨基甲酸甲酯）的电子轰击质谱。利用串联质谱的低能碰撞诱导解离（CID）技术研究了此化合物的单分子解离，并提出了可能的离子／中性碎片复合物中间体碎裂机理，用来解释在质谱碎裂过程中出现的氢迁移（尤其是远距离的氢迁移）现象。     

Metastable dissociation dynamics of molecular cluster ions

Metastable uni-cluster dissociation for several hydrogen-bonded and van der Waals cluster ions are observed via resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization reflectron time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. All of the cluster ions studied show evaporation of a single molecule from the respective parent cluster ions as dominant metastable decay processes. Furthermore, the averaged metastable evaporation rate constants (k _evap) of these cluster ions in a fixed time domain of 0.2–50 µs are obtained by analyzing the relative intensity of metastable ion peaks due to evaporation in the acceleration and the field-free drift regions of the TOF mass spectrometer. An intensity anomaly in some of the observed metastable ion peaks, indicative of magic number stability of the cluster ion, is also presented.     

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry of fullerenes

Atandem reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer developed in our laboratory provides a unique opportunity to investigate the collision-induced dissociation of fullerene ions formed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). Specifically, this opportunity arises from the ability to utilize high energy collisional activation (normally available only on tandem sector instruments by using continuous ionization techniques) for ions formed by pulsed laser desorption, whereas most MALDI time-of-flight instruments record product ion mass spectra of ions formed by metastable or postsource decay. In this study we investigate the products of mass-selected and collisionally activated C ₆₀ ⁺ and C ₇₀ ⁺ ions by using different target gases over a range of target gas pressures. In general, heavier target gases produce more extensive fragmentation and improve the mass resolution of lower mass ionic products because a greater portion of these ions are formed by single collisions. Additionally, the tandem time-of-flight instrument utilizes a nonlinear (curved-field) reflectron in the second mass analyzer that enables high energy collision-induced dissociation spectra to be recorded without scanning or stepping the reflectron voltage.     

一些双电荷离子的气相碎裂反应

借助质量分析离子动能谱和串联质谱研究了由电子轰击产生的双电荷离子的单分子亚稳碎裂及碰撞诱导分解过程,讨论了两种实验方法导致的差别因素.此外,根据质量分析离子动能谱提供的双电荷离子电荷分离反应的动能释放值计算了两电荷中心间距的最小值,以判别按不同电荷分离方式碎裂的双电荷离子的过渡态结构.     

Half protons or doubly charged protons? The history of metastable ions

The history of metastable ions is intertwined with that of ions formed by collision-induced dissociation (CID), and frequently the genesis of the two ion types cannot be strictly separated. Originally, metastable ions were considered a curiosity or even a nuisance, being responsible for "humps" in the base line of the recorded mass spectra. In their heyday metastable ions were recognized as having importance for establishing fragmentation sequences and for distinguishing between isomeric ion structures. Today, in many respects the utility of metastable ions has been superseded by a systematic application of CID techniques; yet the evaluation of their shape is still of importance for questions of reaction energies and ion thermochemistry.     

Investigation of the Structures of the Product Ions Produced via self-CI of Acetone

TheacetoneselfCImassspectrumAcetoneselfCImassspectrumisgiveninTable1.Table1.MajorproductionsandtheirrelativeabundanceofacetoneselfCIMSTheformationofionatmlZ73AnotherproductionintheselfCIMSofacetoneistheionatm/z73.InselfCIMSofacetone-d6,thecounterpartistheionatInjz82.InselfCIMSofthemixtureofacetoneandacetone-d6inaratioofl:l,thecorrespondingionsaretheionsatInlz73,76,79and82.TheirCIDreactionresultsarelistedinTable2.Table2.TheCIDMSoftheionatIn/z73andanalogsOnthebasisofthedatainTab…