Unimolecular dissociation of protonated trans-1,4-diphenyl-2-butene-1,4-dione in the gas phase: rearrangement versus simple cleavage

Fragmentation mechanisms of trans-1,4-diphenyl-2-butene-1,4-dione were studied using a variety of mass spectrometric techniques. The major fragmentation pathways occur by various rearrangements by loss of H(2)O, CO, H(2)O and CO, and CO(2). The other fragmentation pathways via simple alpha cleavages were also observed but accounted for the minor dissociation channels in both a two-dimensional (2-D) linear ion trap and a quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometer. The elimination of CO(2) (rather than CH(3)CHO or C(3)H(8)), which was confirmed by an exact mass measurement using the Q-TOF instrument, represented a major fragmentation pathway in the 2-D linear ion trap mass spectrometer. However, the elimination of H(2)O and CO becomes more competitive in the beam-type Q-TOF instrument. The loss of CO is observed in both the MS(2) experiment of m/z 237 and the MS(3) experiment of m/z 219 but via the different transition states. The data suggest that the olefinic double bond in protonated trans-1,4-diphenyl-2-butene-1,4-dione plays a key role in stabilizing the rearrangement transition states and increasing the bond dissociation (cleavage) energy to give favorable rearrangement fragmentation pathways.