Mass spectra of the coordination compounds of nickel with the tetradentate Schiff bases of S-substituted thiosemicarbazides with 2,4-pentanedione and 3-oxo-2,4-pentanedione

The mass spectra of the coordination compounds of nickel(II) with the bis-S-substituted thiosemicarbazones of 2,4-pentanedione (R₂H₂L) with the general formula [NiR₂HL]X and of 3-oxo-2,4-pentanedione (H₂R₂LO) with the general formula NiR₂LO were studied. A distinguishing feature of the mass spectra of [NiR₂HL]X is the absence of molecular ion peaks. The initial point of fragmentation is the [M - HX] ions. The strongest lines in spectra of NiR₂LO are those due to the elimination of R and R-H. At the first stage the fragmentation of all the investigated compounds takes place mainly through only one of the thiosemicarbazide residues. At the second stage the 2,4-pentanedione (3-oxo-2,4-pentanedione) residue is eliminated, after which the remaining thiosemicarbazide part dissociates. A significant part of the fragmentation paths was confirmed by the peaks of the metastable ions and also by the mass spectra of the deuterated analogs.Institute of Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Moldavian SSR, Kishinev. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 27, No. 2, 205–211, March–April, 1991. Original article submitted August 19, 1986.