Tandem mass spectrometry of poly(ethylene glycol) lithium-attachment ions

Lithium and transition metal ions enable low energy collision-induced dissociation of polyglycols in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry has the potential to be widely used as a tool for polymer structural characterization. However, the backbones or molecular chains of many industrial polymers including functional polyglycols are often difficult to dissociate in tandem mass spectrometers using low energy collision-induced dissociation (CID). We present a method that uses Li+ and transition metal ions such as Ag+ as the cationization reagents for electrospray ionization in an ion trap mass spectrometer. It is shown that lithium and transition metal polyglycol adduct ions can be readily fragmented with low energy CID. Comparative results from different cationization reagents in their abilities of producing both MS spectra and CID spectra are shown. This method opens the possibility of using conventional and readily available low energy CID tandem MS to study polyglycol structures.

Post-source decay in the analysis of polystyrene by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Various secondary series are observed in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectra of polystyrene. The number and positions of the series depend on the choice of matrix and added cation. For a given treatment, series observed in linear mode are not necessarily observed in reflectron mode, and vice versa. Post-source decay analysis was used to determine that the secondary series arise at least in part from formation and decay of adducts of polystyrene with matrix species. There is some treatment-to-treatment variation, but adduct formation and decay were observed for all tested treatments. The multiplicity of secondary series makes it unclear whether post-source decay occurs for the main series (polystyrene + cation)+ ions under the conditions normally used for polystyrene analysis. Such ions do undergo post-source decay at laser fluences greater than normally used. Although only polystyrene was investigated in this work, other polymers may also produce adduct and decay series in MALDI analysis. Their presence can mask the presence of minor components in a sample, but at least as observed here, do not have a strong influence on molecular mass determinations.

Characterization of synthetic polymers by MALDI-TOF/MS: investigation into new methods of sample target preparation and consequence on mass spectrum finger print

Characterization of synthetic polymers by Matrix assisted laser desorption (MALDI) is limited by the solubility of different oligomers in a suitable solvent, and the fingerprint of the mass spectrum is affected by the properties of solvents employed (eg., pH, secondary solvents, evaporation) during sample target preparation. If solvents are not used during sample target preparation, then solvent properties should not play an important role in determining the quality of the MALDI mass spectrum. We report here two solventless approaches for sample target preparation. It was observed that Poly(ethylene glycol) 6000 (PEG) showed the same molecular mass distribution in different modes of sample target preparation. Fluorinated polymer used in these studies was affected by sample target preparation protocol and by target surface. Pyrolysis of PEG oligomers was observed in all the methods of sample target preparation. The desorbed high mass neutral oligomers fragment to give small oligomers which are then cationized by the desolvation of the cationized matrix clusters. Moreover, the origin of the matrix clusters (i.e., formed in the condensed phase or in the gas phase) determines the relative intensities of PEG oligomers cationized by sodium or potassium.

Atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry techniques for the analysis of alkyl ethoxysulfate mixtures

This paper compares two liquid introduction atmospheric pressure ionization techniques for the analysis of alkyl ethoxysulfate (AES) anionic surfactant mixtures by mass spectrometry, i. e., electrospray ionization (ESI) in both positive and negative ion modes and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) in positive ion mode, using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Two ions are observed in ESI(+) for each individual AES component, [M + Na](+) and a "desulfated" ion [M - SO3 + H](+), whereas only one ion, [M - Na](-) is observed for each AES component in ESI(-). APCI(+) produces a protonated, "desulfated" ion of the form [M - NaSO3 + 2H](+) for each AES species in the mixture under low cone voltage (10 V) conditions. The mass spectral ion intensities of the individual AES components in either the series from ESI(+) or APCI(+) can be used to obtain an estimate of their relative concentrations in the mixture and of the average ethoxylate (EO) number of the sample. The precursor ions produced by either ESI(+) or ESI(-), when subjected to low-energy (50 eV) collision-induced dissociation, do not fragment to give ions that provide much structural information. The protonated, desulfated ions produced by APCI(+) form fragment ions which reveal structural information about the precursor ions, including alkyl chain length and EO number, under similar conditions. APCI(+) is less susceptible to matrix effects for quantitative work than ESI(+). Thus APCI(+) provides an additional tool for the analysis of anionic surfactants such as AES, especially in complex mixtures where tandem mass spectrometry is required for the identification of the individual components.

Dissociation characteristics of [M + X](+) ions (X = H, Li, Na, K) from linear and cyclic polyglycols

The unimolecular reactions of protonated and metalated polyglycols with kiloelectronvolt translational energies have been studied by collisionally activated dissociation and neutralization-reionization mass spectrometry. The former method provides information on the ionic dissociation products, whereas the latter allows for the identification of the complementary neutral losses. Protonated linear polyglycols mainly undergo charge-initiated decompositions that lead to eliminations of smaller oligomers, On the other hand, protonated crown ethers ("cyclic" polyglycols) favor charge-induced reactions that proceed by cleavages of two ethylene oxide units in the form of 1,4-dioxane. Replacement of one O by NH in the crown ether dramatically changes its unimolecular chemistry; now, charge-remote 1,4-eliminations from ring-opened isomers are preferred. Charge-remote reactions are also the major decomposition channels of all metalated precursors studied. The linear polyglycols decompose primarily by 1,4-H2 eliminations and to a lesser extent by homolytic cleavages near chain ends. The reverse is true for metalated crown ethers, which preferentially produce distonic radical cations by the loss of saturated radicals; these reactions are proposed to involve prior rearrangement to open-chain isomers. The nature of the metal ion (Li(+), Na(+), or K(+)) does not greatly affect the unimolecular chemistry of the cationized polyglycol. In general, metalated precursors form many abundant fragment ions over the entire mass range; hence, collisional activation of such ions at high kinetic energy should be particularly useful for structure elucidations.