The Mass Spectrum Fragmentation

The molecular ion and fragment ions produced in a mass spectrometer and recorded by it are unique for each compound. A mass spectmm, therefore, is like a fingerprint of the compound, so a compound can be identified by comparing its mass spectrum with those of known compounds. 

Because it is not known what bond loses the electron, the molecular ion is written in brackets and the positive charge and unpaired electron are assigned to the entire stracture. 

The m/z value of the molecular Ion gives the molecular mass of the compound. 

A mass spectrum gives us structural information about the compound because the m/z values and relative abundances of the fragments depend on the strength of the molecular ion s bonds and the stability of the fragments. Weak bonds break in preference to strong bonds, and bonds that break to form more stable fragments break in preference to those that form less stable fragments. 

For example, all the C—C bonds in the molecular ion formed from pentane have about the same strength. However, the C-2-C-3 bond is the one most likely to break because it leads to formation of a primary carbocation and a primary radical, which together are more stable than the primary carbocation and methyl radical (or primary radical and methyl cation) obtained from C-l-C-2 fragmentation. 

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This structure is strongly supported by the mass spectrum fragmentation on either side of the carbonyl group gives fragments of mlz 151 or 112, while loss of CO from each of these explains the peaks at 123 and 84. These fragmentations are summarized in d. 

The mass spectrum fragmentation patterns of a number of 2-(4-substituted-phenyl)-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-l,4-benzodiazepin-5-ones and their tetrazolo[l,5-rfl derivatives have been reported <94JCR(S)62>. 

Additional justification of this assignment was that the IR spectrum was identical with heridanin except for the presence of a much larger band for a hydroxy group. The mass spectrum fragmentation pattern of compound VI also resembled that of heritianin. The... 

Time-of-flight mass spectrometers have been used as detectors in a wider variety of experiments tlian any other mass spectrometer. This is especially true of spectroscopic applications, many of which are discussed in this encyclopedia. Unlike the other instruments described in this chapter, the TOP mass spectrometer is usually used for one purpose, to acquire the mass spectrum of a compound. They caimot generally be used for the kinds of ion-molecule chemistry discussed in this chapter, or structural characterization experiments such as collision-induced dissociation. Plowever, they are easily used as detectors for spectroscopic applications such as multi-photoionization (for the spectroscopy of molecular excited states) [38], zero kinetic energy electron spectroscopy [39] (ZEKE, for the precise measurement of ionization energies) and comcidence measurements (such as photoelectron-photoion coincidence spectroscopy [40] for the measurement of ion fragmentation breakdown diagrams). 

During the course of biochemical studies (138). the mass spectrum of 2-acetamidothiazole was recorded its main peaks are the molecular ion (m/e= 142, relative intensity = 26%) and fragments 100 (100), 58 (2. 5), and 43 (39). For 2-acetamido-5-bromothiazole the main peak results again from the loss of C2H2O by the molecular ion. 2-AcetyIacet-amido-4-methylthiazole (2S) exhibits significant loss of from the... 

The base peak in the mass spectrum of the LM free metal-ligand ion and the fragmentation patterns of this parent ion are of particuliar significance since they illustrate the effect of coordination upon the properties of the thiazole ligand. The free thiazole fragments upon electron impact by two major routes (Scheme 86 also cf. Section II. 6). 

The peak at m/z 77 m the mass spectrum of chlorobenzene m Figure 13 41 is attributed to this fragmentation Because there is no peak of significant intensity two atomic mass units higher we know that the cation responsible for the peak at m/z 77 cannot contain chlorine... 

Some classes of compounds are so prone to fragmentation that the molecular ion peak IS very weak The base peak m most unbranched alkanes for example is m/z 43 which IS followed by peaks of decreasing intensity at m/z values of 57 71 85 and so on These peaks correspond to cleavage of each possible carbon-carbon bond m the mol ecule This pattern is evident m the mass spectrum of decane depicted m Figure 13 42 The points of cleavage are indicated m the following diagram... 

FIGURE 13 42 The mass spectrum of decane The peak for the molecular ion is extremely small The most prominent peaks arise by fragmentation... 

Mass Spectrometry Aldehydes and ketones typically give a prominent molecular ion peak m their mass spectra Aldehydes also exhibit an M— 1 peak A major fragmentation pathway for both aldehydes and ketones leads to formation of acyl cations (acylium ions) by cleavage of an alkyl group from the carbonyl The most intense peak m the mass spectrum of diethyl ketone for example is m z 57 corresponding to loss of ethyl radi cal from the molecular ion... 

The mass spectrum is a fingerprint for each compound because no two molecules are fragmented and ionized in exactly the same manner on electron-impact ionization. In reporting mass spectra the data are normalized by assigning the most intense peak (denoted as base peak) a value of 100. Other peaks are reported as percentages of the base peak. 

Electron ionization occurs when an electron beam crosses an ion source (box) and interacts with sample molecules that have been vaporized into the source. Where the electrons and sample molecules interact, ions are formed, representing intact sample molecular ions and also fragments produced from them. These molecular and fragment ions compose the mass spectrum, which is a correlation of ion mass and its abundance. El spectra of tens of thousands of substances have been recorded and form the basis of spectral libraries, available either in book form or stored in computer memory banks. 

An alternative approach to peptide sequencing uses a dry method in which the whole sequence is obtained from a mass spectrum, thereby obviating the need for multiple reactions. Mass spec-trometrically, a chain of amino acids breaks down predominantly through cleavage of the amide bonds, similar to the result of chemical hydrolysis. From the mass spectrum, identification of the molecular ion, which gives the total molecular mass, followed by examination of the spectrum for characteristic fragment ions representing successive amino acid residues allows the sequence to be read off in the most favorable cases. 

The mass spectrum of 2-pyrone shows an abundant molecular ion and a very prominent ion due to loss of CO and formation of the furan radical cation. Loss of CO from 4-pyrone, on the other hand, is almost negligible, and the retro-Diels-Alder fragmentation pathway dominates. In alkyl-substituted 2-pyrones loss of CO is followed by loss of a hydrogen atom from the alkyl substituent and ring expansion of the resultant cation to the very stable pyrylium cation. Similar trends are observed with the benzo analogues of the pyrones, although in some cases both modes of fragmentation are observed. Thus, coumarins. 

The submitters report that this product solidifies when cooled and melts at 21-22 and that the product is stable when stored in a refrigerator. The product exhibits infrared absorption (carbon tetrachloride) attributable to C=0 stretching at 1810 and 1765 cm. and a proton magnetic resonance singlet at B 1.50 (carbon tetrachloride). The mass spectrum of the product exhibits the following relatively abundant fragment peaks m/e (relative intensity), 60(10), 59(99), 57(34), 56(86), 55(47), 50(21), 44(100), 43(30), 41(91), 40(27), and 39(61). 

In specialized cases, a treatment known as canonization sometimes is tried to improve the amount of molecular (chemical) information made available. If Ag or Na are deliberately introduced into the sample, they will ofren combine with the molecular species present to create Ag or Na molecular ions. These ions are more stable to fragmentation than the bare molecular ions, and can therefore be observed more easily in the mass spectrum. The identification of parent ion peaks in this manner aids in detailed chemical identification. 

The size distribution of the clusters produced in the cluster source is quite smooth, containing no information about the clusters except their composition. To obtain information about, for example, the relative stability of clusters, it is often useful to heat the clusters. Hot clusters will evaporate atoms and molecules, preferably until a more stable cluster composition is reached that resists further evaporation. This causes an increase in abundance of the particularly stable species (i.e., enhancing the corresponding peak in the mass spectrum, then commonly termed fragmentation spectrum ). Using sufficiently high laser fluences (=50 /iJ/mm ), the clusters can be heated and ionized simultaneously with one laser pulse. 

At the end of this section, let us return briefly to the spectra shown in Fig. 3. Notice the structure in the mass spectrum of QoCa, between the completion of the first metal layer at 32 and the second at 104. This structure is identical in the fragmentation mass spectra of fullerenes covered with Ca and with Sr. It is reminiscent of the subshell structure of pure Ca clusters. The subshells could be correlated with the formation of stable islands during the growth of the individual shells[10,l 1]. The sublayer structure we observe here may also give some clue to the building process of these layers. However, the data is presently insufficient to allow stable islands to be identified with certainty. 

Mass Spectrometry The molecular- ion peak is usually quite small in the mass spectrum of an alcohol. A peak conesponding to loss of water is often evident. Alcohols also fragment readily by a pathway in which the rnoleculai- ion loses an alkyl group from the... 

There is another oxygen-stabilized cation of mIz 87 capable of being formed by fragmentation of the molecular ion in the mass spectrum of sec-butyl ethyl ether. Suggest a reasonable structure for this ion. 

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