OXIDATIVE DEGRADATION OF LIGNIN BY PHOTOCHEMICAL AND CHEMICAL RADICAL GENERATING SYSTEMS

Oxidation of specifically radiolabeled ¹⁴C-lignins by UV/H₂0₂. Fenton's reagent, photosesitizing riboflavin. UV- and γ-irradiation was examined. In the presence of UV/H₂O₂, a hydroxyl radical (·OH) generating system. ¹⁴C-methoxy. 2-[¹⁴C-sidechain] and ¹⁴C-ring labeled lignin were rapidly and extensively degraded as measured by gel filtration of the reaction products on Sephadex LH-20. This suggested that exposure to OH leads to rapid, nonspecific lignin degradation. Rapid degradation of 14C-methoxy, 2-[¹⁴C-sidechain] and ¹⁴C-ring labeled lignin also occurred in the presence of the ·OH generating system, Fenton's reagent, confirming the primary role of ·OH in these reactions. Photosensitizing riboflavin, also capable of effecting transformation of organic compounds via Type I hydrogen radical abstractions, caused extensive oxidative degradation of ¹⁴C-methoxy labeled lignin and significant degradation of 2-(¹⁴C-sidechain] and ¹⁴C-ring labeled lignin. In addition, UV- and γ-irradiation caused slower but extensive degradation of the polymers, probably via radical type mechanisms. All of these results indicate that ·OH as well as organic radical generating systems are effective agents for the purpose of degrading this heterogeneous, optically inactive and random biopolymer.     

Plasma chromatography of heroin and cocaine with mass-identified mobility spectra.

Plasma chromatography detects and identifies compounds in trace quantities at atmospheric pressure through characteristic positive and negative mobility spectra. To facilitate use of the technique to detect gas chromatographic effluents, a number of reference mobility spectra for different classes of compounds have been reported. Reference spectra for two more compounds, heroin and cocaine, are presented in this study. The primary ions found in these mobility spectra were determined to be M+, (M - H2)+, and (M - CH3CO2)+ for heroin and M+, (M - C6H5CO2)+ and (M - C6H5CO2 - CO2CH3)+ for cocaine using a directly interfaced plasma chromatograph-mass spectrometer. The identified ions agree closely with those predicted in the ion mobility spectra using mass-mobility correlation data coupled with chemical ionization mass spectrometry data. Also, an independent check demonstrating the reliability of reduced mobility values reported in earlier reference spectra was made.     

Photon-induced dissociation with a four-sector tandem mass spectrometer

The feasibility of using photodissociation of protonated peptide molecules to sequence specific fragment ions with a 193-nm pulsed laser beam in a magnetic deflection tandem mass spectrometer of EBEB configuration was demonstrated. Although the short pulse (15 ns) and low repetition rate (100 Hz) of the excimer laser permitted the irradiation of only ～ 0.02% of the (M + H)⁺ ions exiting MS-1, a photon-induced decomposition spectrum of the heptapeptide angiotensio III (M _r 930.5) was produced that was practically the same (but with better signal-to-noise ratio) as that generated by collision-activated dissociation at the same low duty cycle. Because of the low and pulsed fragment ion currents, an array detector was used to record the spectra. A dependence between laser power and abundance of fragment ions was observed (increased power increases the relative abundance of ions of low mass). Laser power was varied from 6 to 80 mJ. Formation of fragment ions from a large peptide (melittin, M, 2844.75) was also observed. The results permit the design of modifications that may increase the fragment ion yield to 10% or higher, which would make photon-induced decomposition a useful method for magnetic deflection mass spectrometers.     

On the formation of artefact peaks in linked scans of the magnet and electric sector fields in a mass spectrometer

The apperrance of peaks at non-integral masses in linked scans, where the ratio B/E is kept constant, is shown to be caused by fragmentations of metastable ions occuring in the region between the magnetic and electric sectors. A formula is given for calculating the mass of the parent metastable ion and that of its daughter ion.