Relationship of molecular radical anion abundance and calculated lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies for polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dibenzodioxins in electron capture negative ion mass spectrometry: evidence for negative metastable ions

Metastable dissociation of anions formed by electron attachment

A comprehensive analysis of metastable dissociation of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) parent anions formed by attachment of electrons of controlled energy is presented. We characterize the energy dependence and kinetic energy release of the reaction which competes with autodetachment. A surprising finding is a highly exothermic metastable reaction triggered by the attachment of thermal electrons which we relate to the well-known electrostatic ignition hazards of DNT and other explosives. Quantum chemical calculations are performed for dinitrobenzene in order to elucidate the process of NO abstraction.

Electron monochromator-mass spectrometer instrument for negative ion analysis of electronegative compounds

Electron monochromators designed for the production of low-energy electrons (0-15 eV) with nearly monoenergetic distributions have been available for many decades. The concept of adapting the electron monochromator as an ion source onto mass spectrometers for the purpose of electron capture negative ion-mass spectrometric (ECNI-MS) analyses is only now being realized. Two different analyzers, a quadrupole and a double focusing sector instrument, have recently been retrofitted with electron monochromators to test their utility as analytical instruments for the detection of environmental compounds and chemical agents. Electron energy scans of compounds in these classes reveal unique negative ion resonances, which can be used as an additional analytical dimension of information for compound identification and confirmation. Electron currents of 430 μA at 0.03 eV electron energy are now available from the electron monochromator, which will provide sufficient electron flux to meet modern standards for trace level analyses. The narrowest electron energy spread achieved has been ±0.07 eV (fwhm). The electron monochromator-mass spectrometer (EM-MS) instrument has been interfaced to a gas chromatograph (GC), and this system (GC/EM-MS) was used to record ion chromatograms of mixtures of polychlorinated compounds. Regioselective ion loss, resulting from dissociative electron capture by the parent molecule, is electron-energy dependent and can be monitored with the EM-MS instrument. Finally, positive ion spectra produced with monoenergetic electrons have also been recorded. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Correlation between electron capture negative chemical ionization mass spectrometric fragmentation and calculated internal energies for polychlorinated biphenyls

Correlationbse tween molecular structure and fragmentation observed in electron capture negative chemical ionization mass spectra (moderator gas = methane) of 49 selected tetrachlorinated, pentachlorinated, and hexachlorinated biphenyls have been investigated by using molecular modeling. The semiempirical general molecular orbital program MOPAC was used to calculate molecular properties for biphenyl and the 209 polychlorinated biphenyls. The mass spectrometric ionization and fragmentation processes were found to be linked to the number of chlorine atoms present on the biphenyl, and to the number of those chlorine atoms in the ortho (2, 2', 6, and 6') positions. The intensity of molecular ions increased with the number of chlorine atoms present, but this was counteracted by enhanced fragmentation as the number of ortho position chlorine atoms increased. The molecular parameters that were most closely linked with the number of ortho chlorine atoms were the twist angle between the phenyl rings and the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). It is suggested that fragmentation occurs when the energy of the ionizing electron exceeds the energy difference between the LUMO and LlJMO + 1 orbitals.