Methyl propionate radical cation

Examination of the reactions of the long-lived (>0.5-s) radical cations of CD₃CH₂COOCH₃ and CH₃CH₂COOCD₃ indicates that the long-lived, nondecomposing methyl propionate radical cation CH₃CH₂C(O)OCH ₃ ^+· isomerizes to its enol form CH₃CH=C(OH)OCH ₃ ^+· (ΔH _{isomerization} ? ?32 kcal/mol) via two different pathways in the gas phase in a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. A 1,4-shift of a β-hydrogen of the acid moiety to the carbonyl oxygen yields the distonic ion ^·CH₂CH₂C⁺ (OH)OCH₃ that then rearranges to CH₃CH=C(OH)OCH ₃ ^+· probably by consecutive 1,5- and 1,4-hydrogen shifts. This process is in competition with a 1,4-hydrogen transfer from the alcohol moiety to form another distonic ion, CH₃CH₂C⁺(OH)OCH ₂ ^· , that can undergo a 1,4-hydrogen shift to form CH₃CH=C(OH)OCH ₃ ^+· . Ab initio molecular orbital calculations carried out at the UMP2/6-31G** + ZPVE level of theory show that the two distonic ions lie more than 16 kcal/mol lower in energy than CH₃CH₂C(O)OCH ₃ ^+· . Hence, the first step of both rearrangement processes has a great driving force. The 1,4-hydrogen shift that involves the acid moiety is 3 kcal/mol more exothermic (ΔH _{isomerization}=?16 kcal/mol) and is associated with a 4-kcal/mol lower barrier (10 kcal/mol) than the shift that involves the alcohol moiety. Indeed, experimental findings suggest that the hydrogen shift from the acid moiety is likely to be the favored channel.     

Mass spectrometric studies on small open-chain piperazine-containing ligands and their transition metal complexes

Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry was used to characterize the complexes formed between open-chain piperazine-containing ligands and transition metal salts (Cobalt, Copper, Zinc, and Cadmium as chlorides, nitrates, and acetates). Only single-charged complexes were observed, formed of one ligand (L) and mainly one metal ion (M). Since the net charge of the complexes was one, a counterion (X) was attached to some of the complexes, with formation of [L + M + X]+ complexes, and a proton was lost from others, as in [L - H + M]+ complexes. In most cases the composition of the complexes was more dependent on the ligand than the metal salt. Collision-induced dissociation measurements showed that complexes with related composition often differed in structure, or that interactions between the ligand and the metal ion were not alike. The metal ion influenced considerably the fragmentation pathways of the ligands, so that the fragmentation products could be used to deduce the binding sites of the metal. The variations observed in fragmentation behavior of complexes possessing the same ligand but different metal ions can mostly be explained by the ionic radius and electronic configuration of the metal ion. The results indicated a preference of the piperazine ring of the coordinated ligand for the boat conformation.     

Quantum mechanical investigation of effects in formation of carbonyl and thiocarbonyl cations. Part I. Fragmentation reactions of 1,2-hemithiodione radical cations

In order to study decomposition reactions of ionic oxygen and sulphur-containing compounds, such as hemithiodione radical cations, a quantum chemical investigation of the formation of formyl, thioformyl, acyl and thioacyl cations and radicals was performed. Calculations were carried out mainly at the 6–31G^* level involving complete geometry optimizations. In the ionization of aldehydes and thioaldehydes, no important energy differences were found between the oxygen and sulphur analogues studied. A stepwise generation of formyl and thioformyl cations from formaldehyde and thioformaldehyde, by hydrogen atom abstraction followed by expulsion of unpaired electrons from the resulting radicals, showed the radicalization of formaldehyde to be only 12.6 kJ mol^?1 more favoured than that of thioformaldehyde. The electron expulsion from formyl radical was 23.8 kJ mol^?1 more favoured than that from thioformyl radical. Substitution of hydrogens of formyl and thioformyl groups by methyls lowered the total formation energies of carbonyl and thiocarbonyl cations 119.2 and 96.2 kJ mol^?1. The formation energy difference between acyl and thioacyl cations was also very small.     

The complexation of two different ammonium ions with resorcarenes in protic solvent medium investigated by electrospray ionisation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

The complexations of two ammonium ions (guests) with two resorcarenes (hosts) were investigated using electrospray ionisation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Although the two guests and the two hosts were noticeably similar, the quantity of the corresponding supramolecular complexes formed varied significantly due to the differences in host conformations and guest ability to form non-covalent interactions.     

An electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometric study of the gas-phase stabilities and fragmentation of N-alkylammonium resorcarenes

Five N-alkylated ammonium resorcarene derivatives, differing either in the nitrogen atom or in the lower rim alkyl chain, were studied using electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The main purpose was to clarify the fragmentation and the relative stabilities of the protonated molecules by collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments. The results indicate that fragmentation of the upper rim alkyl amino substituents at the 2-position occurs readily. Variation in the gas-phase stabilities of these molecules was also observed. In addition, the proposed fragmentation pathways are depicted.     

Hydrogen bonding in phosphonate cavitands: Investigation of host-guest complexes with ammonium salts

The H-bonding in alkylammonium complexes of phosphonate cavitands were studied by mass spectrometric methods and theoretical calculations. The alkylammonium ions included primary, secondary, and tertiary methyl- and ethylammonium ions. Their complexation with mono-, tetra-, and two di-phosphonate cavitands, which differ according to the number and position of H-bond acceptor P = O groups, was evaluated by using different competition experiments, energy-resolved CID, gas-phase H/D-exchange, and ligand-exchange reactions, together with ab initio theoretical optimization of the complexes. The phosphonate cavitands with two or more adjacent P = O groups were found to be selective towards secondary alkylammonium ions, due to simultaneous formation of two stable hydrogen bonds. In the ion-molecule reactions (both H/D- and ligand-exchange), the formation of two stable hydrogen bonds was observed either to slow down the reaction or to completely prevent it. This was, however, limited to situations where two hydrogen bonds are formed between the H-bond donor sites of the alkyl ammonium ion and the vicinal H-bond acceptor sites of the cavitand.     

Qualitative and quantitative end-group analysis of a small molecular weight polyester by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry was used for qualitative and quantitative end-group analysis of a small molecular weight polyester, poly(2-butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propylene phthalate). The presence of carboxyl-terminated linear and cyclic polyester oligomers was confirmed with the help of simple sample preparation methods. The presence of carboxyl end-groups in the polyester chains was verified through their formation of carboxylate salts with alkali metal cations. Cyclic oligomers were identified through deuterium exchange of the exchangeable protons of the polyester. Various inorganic salts were tested for salt formation of the carboxyl end-groups, but only the alkali metal salts proved effective. The influence of the alkali metal salts on the results of the quantitative end-group analysis was also studied. The relative amounts of differently terminated and cyclic oligomers were calculated when the alkali metal salts were used with different matrices. The results showed that both the salts and the matrices used in sample preparation can have a marked effect on the quantitative results of the end-group analysis. The measurements were carried out using 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), 1,8, 9-trihydroxyanthracene (dithranol), and 2-(4-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid (HABA) as matrix compounds. Dithranol and HABA repeatably exhibited similar results, and these results differed from those obtained with DHB probably because of the different ionization mechanisms in the MALDI process. Copyright-Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GC/MS determination of the mutagenic heterocyclic amines MeIQx and DiMeIQx in cooking fumes

Summary 2-Amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (4,8-DiMeIQx) and 2-amino-3,7,8-trimethylimidazo-[4,5-f]quinoxaline (7,8-DiMeIQx) are heterocyclic aromatic amines formed during cooking of meat. The release of these mutagenic and possibly carcinogenic compounds into the ambient air was investigated. Minced beef/pork (1440 g) was fried at 210°C in a cast-iron frying pan. The cooking fumes were led through a glass funnel into a sampler which consisted of two glass fibre filters and an XAD-2 sorbent tube. MeIQx and DiMeIQx were analysed as 3,5-bistrifluoromethylbenzyl derivatives by GC/MS using electron ionisation in selected ion monitoring mode. The results showed that MeIQx and DiMeIQx are volatilised during frying. 0.014 ng/g of MeIQx and 0.007 ng/g of DiMeIQx were found on the filters and the sorbent tube in an air sample of 721. The proportions of 4,8- and 7,8-isomers of DiMeIQx were not determined. The method proved to be sufficiently sensitive (detection limit 0.1 ng/sample for MeIQx) and specific for workplace measurements.     

Mass spectrometric behaviour of simple oxazolidines under electron impact and chemical ionization

The 70 eV electron impact mass spectra of 33 differently substituted oxazolidines were studied to determine the effect of substituents and the existence of the ring—chain tautomeric equilibrium on the decomposition of the molecular ions. Most of the fragmentations can be rationalized to start as the cleavage initiated by the radical site at nitrogen. Isomeric compounds showed different spectra and were easily differentiated. The position of the ring—chain equilibrium could be located only roughly. The chemical ionization mass spectra of the compounds were also recorded, with ammonia, isobutane, acetone or methane as reagent gas. Methane was the only reagent gas that promoted extensive fragmentation of the protonated molecules. However, no information about the position of ring-chain tautomerism was obtained under these conditions. Analogously to other related five-membered heterocycles, the oxazolidines reacted under acetone chemical ionization conditions to afford [M + CH₃CO]⁺ adduct ions. These adducts were stable, however, and unlike those of 1,3-dioxolanes and 1,3-oxathiolanes, they did not decompose and form stable oxonium ions.     

Preparation of 1‐substituted‐5‐[(2‐oxo‐2‐phenyl)ethyl]imidazoles

New high yield preparation methods were developed for the pharmaceutically interesting compounds, 1‐benzyl‐, 1‐methyl‐, and 1H‐5‐[(2‐oxo‐2‐phenyl)ethyl]imidazoles 1a‐c , respectively. The title compounds were synthesized by four different methods using various starting materials. Two of the methods involved transformation reactions of the key intermediates, 1‐substituted‐5‐[(2‐nitro‐2‐phenyl)ethenyl]imidazoles 2a‐c and 1‐substituted‐5‐[(2‐nitro‐2‐phenyl)ethyl]imidazoles 3a‐c , while the other two utilized the oxidation of 1‐substituted‐5‐[(2‐hydroxy‐2‐phenyl)ethyl]imidazoles 4a‐c , with chromic oxide, and the umpolung reaction of benzaldehyde followed by a condensation reaction of the umpolung intermediate with imidazolecarboxaldehydes 6a‐c.