Mass spectrometry fragmentation processes

In substituted methyl cholanoates (Table I) loss of water or its equivalents (acetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, trimethylsilanol, etc.) is pronounced. In gas chromatography-mass spectrometry this process is partly thermal, partly due to electron impact when a direct probe is used, thermal elimination can be avoided. Since the mechanisms of the two types of elimination are different (26) the spectra will differ to some extent. However, in work with biological materials, the complexity of the mixtures and the small amounts of bile acids available usually make it necessary to use the former method and to accept the thermal component in the fragmentation process. When methyl esters of di- and trihydroxy bile acids and their acetates or trifluoroacetates are analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, a molecular ion is usually not seen. This is partly due to the high temperatures used. Trimethylsilyl ethers usually give a molecular ion peak but it may be quite small. 

Boesl U, Weinkauf R and Schlag EW (1992) Reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry and laser excitation for the analysis of neutrals, ionized molecules and secondary fragments. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry. Ion Processes (Special Edition) 112 121-166. 

Separation of families by merely increasing the resolution evidently can not be used when the two chemical families have the same molecular formula. This is particularly true for naphthenes and olefins of the formula, C H2 , which also happen to have very similar fragmentation patterns. Resolution of these two molecular types is one of the problems not yet solved by mass spectrometry, despite the efforts of numerous laboratories motivated by the refiner s major interest in being able to make the distinction. Olefins are in fact abundantly present in the products from conversion processes. 

Lover T efa/1997 Electrospray mass spectrometry of thiophenolate-capped clusters of CdS, CdSe and ZnS and cadmium and zinc thiophenolate complexes observation of fragmentation and metal, chalcogenide and ligand exchange processes Inorg. Chem. 36 3711... 

Mass Spectrometry Aside from a peak for the molecular ion which is normally easy to pick out aliphatic carboxylic acids undergo a variety of fragmentation processes The dominant fragmentation m aromatic acids corresponds to loss of OH then loss of CO... 

Although there has been some controversy concerning the processes involved in field ionization mass spectrometry, the general principles appear to be understood. Firstly, the ionization process itself produces little excess of vibrational and rotational energy in the ions, and, consequently, fragmentation is limited or nonexistent. This ionization process is one of the mild or soft methods available for producing excellent molecular mass information. The initially formed ions are either simple radical cations or radical anions (M ). 

To examine a sample by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) or inductively coupled plasma atomic-emission spectroscopy (ICP/AES) the sample must be transported into the flame of a plasma torch. Once in the flame, sample molecules are literally ripped apart to form ions of their constituent elements. These fragmentation and ionization processes are described in Chapters 6 and 14. To introduce samples into the center of the (plasma) flame, they must be transported there as gases, as finely dispersed droplets of a solution, or as fine particulate matter. The various methods of sample introduction are described here in three parts — A, B, and C Chapters 15, 16, and 17 — to cover gases, solutions (liquids), and solids. Some types of sample inlets are multipurpose and can be used with gases and liquids or with liquids and solids, but others have been designed specifically for only one kind of analysis. However, the principles governing the operation of inlet systems fall into a small number of categories. This chapter discusses specifically substances that are normally liquids at ambient temperatures. This sort of inlet is the commonest in analytical work. 

Electron impact ionisation (El) stands for extensive fragmentation, but also produces molecular ions. The other ionisation methods shown in Table 6.10 mainly generate quasi-molecular ions for various compound classes. Protonation of organic compounds is one of the most fundamental processes of Cl, FAB and ESI mass spectrometry. Apart from electrospray (ESI), which... 

One attempt to overcome these disadvantages has been to use multidimensional liquid chromatography (LC) followed directly by tandem mass spectrometry to separate, fragment and identify proteins (Link et al., 1999). In this process, a denatured and reduced protein mixture is digested with a protease to create a collection of peptides (Fig. 2.6). The peptide mixture is applied to a cation exchange column and a fraction of these peptides are eluted based on charge onto a reverse-phase column. The... 

MS/MS Duty Cycle Typical MS/MS analysis is a serial process, relying on the selection of precursors (peptides) in MS mode, followed by high-energy fragmentation in MS/MS. This process is termed data dependent acquisition (DDA). The duty cycle for the completion of MS and MS/MS cycles (the time necessary for MS/MS spectrum acquisition) is of primary importance. When the separation performance is viewed from the mass spectrometry perspective, the peak capacity can be characterized by the number of MS/MS scans, yielding successful... 

---