Quasi-molecular ions

Comparison of El and Cl mass spectra illustrating the greater degree of fragmentation in the former and the greater abundance of quasi-molecular ions in the latter,... 

Typical Cl processes in which neutral sample molecules (M) react with NH to give either (a) a protonated ion [M + HJ or (b) an adduct ion [M + NHJ+ the quasi-molecular ions are respectively 1 and 18 mass units greater than the true mass (M). In process (c), reagent ions (CjHf) abstract hydrogen, giving a quasi-molecular ion that is 1 mass unit less than M. 

If the substrate (M) is more basic than NHj, then proton transfer occurs, but if it is less basic, then addition of NH4 occurs. Sometimes the basicity of M is such that both reactions occur, and the mass spectrum contains ions corresponding to both [M + H]+ and [M + NH4]. Sometimes the reagent gas ions can form quasi-molecular ions in which a proton has been removed from, rather than added to, the molecule (M), as shown in Figure 1.5c. In these cases, the quasi-molecular ions have one mass unit less than the true molecular mass. 

Some substances under El conditions fragment so readily that either no molecular ions survive or so few survive that it is difficult to be sure that the ones observed do not represent some impurity. Therefore, there is either no molecular mass information or it is uncertain. Under Cl conditions, very little fragmentation occurs and, depending on the reagent gas, ions [M + X]+ (X = H, NH4, NO, etc.) or [M - H] or [M - H]" or [M -1- X] (X = F, Cl, OH, O, etc.) are the abundant quasi-molecular ions, which do give molecular mass information. 

A big step forward came with the discovery that bombardment of a liquid target surface by abeam of fast atoms caused continuous desorption of ions that were characteristic of the liquid. Where this liquid consisted of a sample substance dissolved in a solvent of low volatility (a matrix), both positive and negative molecular or quasi-molecular ions characteristic of the sample were produced. The process quickly became known by the acronym FAB (fast-atom bombardment) and for its then-fabulous results on substances that had hitherto proved intractable. Later, it was found that a primary incident beam of fast ions could be used instead, and a more generally descriptive term, LSIMS (liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry) has come into use. However, note that purists still regard and refer to both FAB and LSIMS as simply facets of the original SIMS. In practice, any of the acronyms can be used, but FAB and LSIMS are more descriptive when referring to the primary atom or ion beam. 

Because there is little fragmentation on FD, it is necessary to activate the molecular or quasi-molecular ions if molecular structural information is needed. This can be done by any of the methods used in tandem MS as, for example, collisional activation (see Chapters 20 through 23 for more information on tandem MS and collisional activation). 

Quasi-molecular ions, [M + nH], from a protein (myoglobin) of molecnlar mass 16,951.5 Da. In this case, n ranges from 21 (giving a measured mass of 808.221) to 12 (corresponding to a measured mass of 1413.631). The peaks with measured masses in between these correspond to the other values of n between 12 and 21. By taking snccessive pairs of measnred masses, the relative molecular mass of the myoglobin can be calculated very accurately, as shown in Figure 8.4. 

An example of proton (H ) transfer from a protonated solvent molecule (SH ) or cluster to form a quasi-molecular ion (MH ) of the substrate (M). 

This is entirely analogous to the problem with simple chemical ionization, and the solution to it is similar. To give the quasi-molecular ions the extra energy needed for them to fragment, they can be passed through a collision gas and the resulting spectra analyzed for metastable ions or by MS/MS methods (see Chapters 20 through 23). 

The FAB source operates near room temperature, and ions of the substance of interest are lifted out from the matrix by a momentum-transfer process that deposits little excess of vibrational and rotational energy in the resulting quasi-molecular ion. Thus, a further advantage of FAB/LSIMS over many other methods of ionization lies in its gentle or mild treatment of thermally labile substances such as peptides, proteins, nucleosides, sugars, and so on, which can be ionized without degrading their. structures. 

Mostly, positive-ion FAB yields protonated quasi-molecular ions [M -i- H]+, and the negative-ion mode yields [M - H]. In the presence of metal salts (e.g., KCl) that are sometimes added to improve efficiency in the LC column, ions of the type [M -i- X]+are common, where X is the metal. Another type of ion that is observed is the so-called cluster, a complex of several molecules with one proton, [M -i- H]+ with n = 1, 2, 3,. .., etc. Few fragment ions are produced. 

Some mild methods of ionization (e.g., chemical ionization. Cl fast-atom bombardment, FAB electrospray, ES) provide molecular or quasi-molecular ions with so little excess of energy that little or no fragmentation takes place. Thus, there are few, if any, normal fragment ions, and metastable ions are virtually nonexistent. Although these mild ionization techniques are ideal for yielding molecular mass information, they are almost useless for providing details of molecular structure, a decided disadvantage. 

Finally, note that the ions produced by the combined inlet and ion sources, such as electrospray, plasmaspray, and dynamic FAB, are normally molecular or quasi-molecular ions, and there is little or none of the fragmentation that is so useful for structural work and for identifying compounds through a library search. While production of only a single type of molecular ion may be useful for obtaining the relative molecular mass of a substance or for revealing the complexity of a mixture, it is often not useful when identification needs to be done, as with most general analyses. Therefore,... 

Chemical ionization produces quasi-molecular or protonated molecular ions that do not fragment as readily as the molecular ions formed by electron ionization. Therefore, Cl spectra are normally simpler than El spectra in that they contain abundant quasi-molecular ions and few fragment ions. It is advantageous to run both Cl and El spectra on the same compound to obtain complementary information. 

Usually, FAB yields molecular or quasi-molecular ions, which have little excess of internal energy and therefore do not fragment. This ionization method is mild and good for obtaining molecular mass (molecular weight) information. 

The impact of a primary beam of fast atoms or ions on a target matrix (substrate and solvent) causes desorption of molecular or quasi-molecular ions characteristic of the substrate. The process is called FAB for atom bombardment or LSIMS for ion bombardment. 

The ions that pass into the analyzer have near-ambient thermal energies and do not fragment but give excellent molecular or quasi-molecular ions. These ions can be investigated for their m/z values by almost any kind of mass analyzer. 

Cluster ions are also emitted from organic materials their identity and yield depend on the chemical structure of the materials. Molecular or quasi-molecular ions may be observed as well as other ions that are formed by fragmentation, rearrangement, decomposition, or reaction [52], Several typical ion formation processes are summarized in Table 3 [40]. 

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... 

Generally FAB produces protonated, MH+, or depro-tonated, (M — H) , quasi-molecular ions with a little excess energy which will sometimes produce fragment ions of low intensity. FAB is therefore a mild to soft ionisation technique which produces primarily molecular weight information and some structural information. Positive and negative ionisation mass spectra are produced with equal facility. FAB was originally used with magnetic sector mass spectrometers, but lately mainly with quadrupole mass spectrometers (Table 6.10). 

ESI and APCI are soft ionisation techniques which usually result in quasi-molecular ions such as [M + H]+ with little or no fragmentation molecular weight information can easily be obtained. However, experimental conditions can also be chosen in such a way that a sufficiently characteristic pattern is obtained, allowing verification [540]. ESI is amenable to thermally labile and nonvolatile molecules. Both ESI and APCI are much more sensitive than PB and very well suited for quantitative analysis, but less so for unknown samples. The choice among the two is usually determined by the application. Recently, nanoscale LC-ESI-MS has been developed [541]. The nano-electrospray ion source offers the highest sensitivity available for LC-MS (atto-to femtomole range) and can also be used as an off-line ion source. 

LC ESI MS allows also the identification of other anthraquinones in madder preparations. Based on structural information obtained by NI mass spectra and specific retention times (signals corresponding to quasi-molecular ions [M—H] and fragment ions [M—C02—H] ), pseudopurpurin (peaks at m/z 299.1 and 255.3) and munjistin (at m/z 283.1 and 239.3) are found in the natural material. Alizarin glycoside is identified by deprotonated quasi-molecular ions at m/z 401.1 and ions formed by the loss of glucose at m/z 239.1. Similar ions are found to be characteristic of lucidin... 

Cochineal and lac dye can be studied by HPLC with spectrophotometric and NI ESI MS detection. [34] In cochineal, carminic acid appears as a dominant colouring agent. In lac dye extracts, the signal at m/z 536 corresponding to a quasi-molecular ion of laccaic acid A is observed as the dominant one. [19]... 

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