Formation of β-distonic oxonium ions: Study of ROCH2CH2OR′ radical cations

Radical cations derived from the ethers ROCH₂CH₂OR′ (R, R′ = H, CH₃, C₂₅) were studied, since β-distonic oxonium ions are often prepared from ionized ethers of glycol. The first step in the fragmentation is a 1,5-transfer of an α-hydrogen to oxygen of a terminal alkoxy group leading to a δ-distonic oxonium ion. This step is thermo-neutral and reversible in the ROCH₂CH₂OH radical cations and exothermic and irreversible in the dialkyl ether radical cations. Depending on R and R,′ these δ-distonic oxonium ions fragment by three reactions: the loss of an alcohol or a water molecule, the formation of a β-distonic oxonium ion ˙CH₂CH₂O(H)⁺R and a 1,4-H migration between carbon atoms. Competition between these processes is discussed.     

Mecanismes de Fragmentation de l'Oxazole

The fragmentation mechanisms of oxazole have been studied in detail on using various experimental techniques (refocusing of metastable ions, deuteration, AP measurements) and by theoretical calculations.     

IsoméRisation avant la perte d'eau des ions aldéhydes et cétones protonés en spectrométrie de masse

Isomerization of Protonated Aldehyde and Ketone Ions in the Mass-Spectrography Before the Loss of Water In mass spectrometry, protonated aldehyde and ketone ions isomerize before the loss of a molecule of water. In order to specify this process, the spectra of deuterium labelled protonated aldehydes and ketones have been compared to the spectra of the corresponding isomer ions.     

Unimolecular gas-phase reactions of the methyl acetoacetate radical cation. Oxygen atom permutation via ion-molecule complexes

The reactions of metastable decomposing methyl acetoacetate (a mixture of keto a ad enol tautomers) are reported and discussed. The unimolecular fragmentations of the tautomers are different. The metastable decomposing radical cation of the keto form displays four specific ions: [M –CO]⁺˙, [M – CH₂O]⁺˙, [M – CH₂CO]⁺˙ and m/z 43. The results derived from D-, ¹³C- and ¹⁸O-labelled precursors together with thermochemical data have been used to study the mechanisms. Experimental results indicate that an unexpected isomerization occurs before dissociation. It formally corresponds to oxygen atom permutation of the two carbonyl groups without participation of the carbon atoms. This remarkable process is interpreted in terms of a mechanism involving ion-molecule complexes.     

The [CH2CHOH.+, CH3CHO] solvated enol radical cation

The bimolecular reaction of the CH₂CHOH^.+ enol ion (m/z 44) with acetaldehyde gives a strongly dominant product,m/z 45, formed mainly by proton transfer from the ion to the molecule. The abundance of the product coming from a H^. abstraction reaction from the neutral, albeit more exothermic, is negligible. In order to explain this result, the long lived [CH₂CHOH^.+, CH₃CHO] solvated ion was generated by reaction of the CH₂CHOH^.+ enol ion with (CH₃CHO) _n in the cell of a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. The structure of this solvated ion was clearly established. Labeling indicates that [CH₂CHOH^.+, CH₃CHO], upon low energy collisions, reacts by H^. abstraction more rapidly than by H⁺ transfer to the neutral moiety. This shows that the entropic factors are determinant when the enol ion reacts directly with acetaldehyde.     

Surprises in the structural chemistry of zeolites

High-resolution electron microscopy, apart from strikingly confirming the correctness of the X-ray-based models for the skeletal structure of the aluminosilicate frameworks of zeolites, points to the existence of new families of ordered, crystalline microporous solids (e.g., with composition A_xB_xC_m?xO_2m · nH₂O, where A is an exchangeable monovalent cation, B is Al or Ga, C is Si or Ge, and x, m, n are integers.) It also reveals crystalline imperfections and unexpected superlattice structures in A-type and faujasitic zeolites, and the nature of the intergrowths in, for example, $\text{ZSM-5}\text{ZSM-11}$ materials. The short-range order of Si and Al within the aluminosilicate framework may be directly explored by magic-angle-spinning NMR (MASNMR) employing ²⁹Si and ²⁷Al nuclei. This technique probes the site symmetry and environment of these atoms. Al in tetrahedral as well as in octahedral sites may be readily identified and so may the populations of groups such as Si(OAl)₄, Si(OAl)₃, (OSi), etc., so that new information is obtained pertaining to Si, Al ordering in a variety of zeolitic solids.     

Mechanism of CO loss for protonated 1-indanone and isomeric [C9H9O]+ ions

In order to establish the mechanism of CO loss occurring during metastable decomposition of protonated 1-indanone, fragmentations of monocyclic [C₉H₉O]⁺ isomers have been studied. These ions of known structure were prepared by CI protonation and fragmentation of the corresponding acids chlorides. It is demonstrated that the wide component of the [MH? CO]⁺ metastable peak induced by protonated 1-indanone fragmentation is the result of fragmentation of the [C₆H₅CH₂CH₂CO]⁺ isomer ion.