Applications of electrospray mass spectrometry inorganometallic chemistry

Multistate Switching of Some Ruthenium Alkynyl and Vinyl Spiropyran Complexes

To study the switching properties of photochromes, we undertook the synthesis and characterization of several ruthenium organometallic complexes of the type [Ru(Cp*)(dppe)(C≡C-SP)] or [Ru(CO)(dppe)(PPh3)Cl(CH═CH-SP)], where SP = spiropyran. The spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of the complexes were determined by careful cyclic voltammetric and spectroelectrochemical experiments. Whereas the mononuclear alkynyl ruthenium complexes undergo one-electron oxidations localized over the metal alkynyl moiety, the oxidation of the mononuclear vinyl ruthenium complexes is centered on the indoline moiety of the spiropyran. Through these studies, we demonstrate access to several stable redox states, in addition to switching states attained via acidochromism and/or photoisomerization.

Helium-Plasma-Ionization Mass Spectrometry of Metallocenes and Their Derivatives

Ferrocene and its derivatives and nickelocene undergo facile ionization when exposed directly to the ionizing plasma of a helium-plasma ionization (HePI) source. Mass spectra recorded from such samples under ambient positive-ion-generating conditions show intense peaks for the respective molecular ions [M^+•] and protonated species [(M + H)⁺]. The protonation process occurs most efficiently when traces of water are present in the heated nitrogen used as the "heating gas." In fact, the relative population of the two categories of ions generated in this way can be manipulated by regulating the heating-gas flow. Moreover, rapid and highly efficient gas-phase hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) reactions can be performed in the ion source by passing the heating gas through a vial with D₂O before it reaches the HePI source. Moreover, the ionized species generated in this way can be subjected to in-source CID fragmentation in the QDa-HePI source very efficiently by varying the sampling-cone voltage. By this procedure, ions generated from ferrocene and nickelocene could be stripped so far as to ultimately generate the bare-metal cation. Other typical fragment-ions produced from protonated metallocenes included the M(cp)₁⁺ ions (M = Fe or Ni), by elimination of a cyclopentadiene molecule, or the molecular cation, by loss of a H^• radical. Moreover, H/D exchanges and subsequent tandem mass spectrometric analysis indicated that the central metal core participates in the initial protonation process of ferrocene under HePI conditions. However, in compounds such as ferrocene carboxaldehyde and ferrocene boronic acid, the protonation takes place at the peripheral functional group.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the hydrolysis complexes of cisplatin: implications for the hydrolysis process of platinum complexes

Non-enzyme-dependent hydrolysis of the drug cisplatin is important for its mode of action and toxicity. However, up until today, the hydrolysis process of cisplatin is still not completely understood. In the present study, the hydrolysis of cisplatin in an aqueous solution was systematically investigated by using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography. A variety of previously unreported hydrolysis complexes corresponding to monomeric, dimeric and trimeric species were detected and identified. The characteristics of the Pt-containing complexes were investigated by using collision-induced dissociation (CID). The hydrolysis complexes demonstrate distinctive and correlative CID characteristics, which provides tools for an informative identification. The most frequently observed dissociation mechanism was sequential loss of NH₃ , H₂ O and HCl. Loss of the Pt atom was observed as the final step during the CID process. The formation mechanisms of the observed complexes were explored and experimentally examined. The strongly bound dimeric species, which existed in solution, are assumed to be formed from the clustering of the parent compound and its monohydrated or dihydrated complexes. The role of the electrospray process in the formation of some of the observed ions was also evaluated, and the electrospray ionization-related cold clusters were identified. The previously reported hydrolysis equilibria were tested and subsequently refined via a hydrolysis study resulting in a renewed mechanistic equilibrium system of cisplatin as proposed from our results. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Alkyl linker effects on the coordination topology of ditopic di(2-pyridylmethyl)amine carboxylate ligands with ZnIIand CuII: polymersvs.macrocycles

Di(2-pyridylmethyl)amine carboxylates with short alkyl linkers afford coordination polymers whereas the longer homologues favour macrocyclic topologies.

Study of challenging calcium alkoxides in solution by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (Part 1)

Electrosprayionization was applied on calcium altkoxides studying the mostsuitableoperativeconditions for their detection/identification. To reach this aim, calcium methoxide and ethylate were obtained by two different synthetic pathways, in order to understand their possible different aggregation states. The reaction mixture shows the presence of a supernatant and of a precipitate poorly soluble in most organic solvents. The purpose of this preliminary study is to understand the qualitative differences between the precipitated species and the ones in solution by analyzing both of them with the same analytical method. The electrospray ionization (ESI) operating conditions (voltages, temperatures, solvents) allow not only the detection of single species but also the study of clusters present in solution. Particular attention was paid to establishing the role of ESI conditions in the formation of the detected species. Experiments performed at different sprayer voltages (1 kV, 2kV, 3 kV and 4 kV) proved that ESI does not perturbate the equilibria present in the original solution, demonstrating that the technique can be a useful tool to achieve information on this class of compounds.

The expanding role of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for probing reactive intermediates in solution

Within the past decade, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has rapidly occupied a prominent position for liquid-phase mechanistic studies due to its intrinsic advantages allowing for efficient "fishing" (rapid, sensitive, specific and simultaneous detection/identification) of multiple intermediates and products directly from a "real-world" solution. In this review we attempt to offer a comprehensive overview of the ESI-MS-based methodologies and strategies developed up to date to study reactive species in reaction solutions. A full description of general issues involved with probing reacting species from complex (bio)chemical reaction systems is briefly covered, including the potential sources of reactive intermediate (metabolite) generation, analytical aspects and challenges, basic rudiments of ESI-MS and the state-of-the-art technology. The main purpose of the present review is to highlight the utility of ESI-MS and its expanding role in probing reactive intermediates from various reactions in solution, with special focus on current progress in ESI-MS-based approaches for improving throughput, testing reality and real-time detection by using newly developed MS instruments and emerging ionization sources (such as ambient ESI techniques). In addition, the limitations of modern ESI-MS in detecting intermediates in organic reactions is also discussed.

Mass spectrometry of rhenium complexes: a comparative study by using LDI-MS, MALDI-MS, PESI-MS and ESI-MS

A group of rhenium (I) complexes including in their structure ligands such as CF(3)SO(3)-, CH(3)CO(2)-, CO, 2,2'-bipyridine, dipyridil[3,2-a:2'3'-c]phenazine, naphthalene-2-carboxylate, anthracene-9-carboxylate, pyrene-1-carboxylate and 1,10-phenanthroline have been studied for the first time by mass spectrometry. The probe electrospray ionization (PESI) is a technique based on electrospray ionization (ESI) that generates electrospray from the tip of a solid metal needle. In this work, mass spectra for organometallic complexes obtained by PESI were compared with those obtained by classical ESI and high flow rate electrospray ionization assisted by corona discharge (HF-ESI-CD), an ideal method to avoid decomposition of the complexes and to induce their oxidation to yield intact molecular cation radicals in gas state [M](+·) and to produce their reduction yielding the gas species [M](-·). It was found that both techniques showed in general the intact molecular ions of the organometallics studied and provided additional structure characteristic diagnostic fragments. As the rhenium complexes studied in the present work showed strong absorption in the UV-visible region, particularly at 355 nm, laser desorption ionization (LDI) mass spectrometry experiments could be conducted. Although intact molecular ions could be detected in a few cases, LDI mass spectra showed diagnostic fragments for characterization of the complexes structure. Furthermore, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectra were obtained. Nor-harmane, a compound with basic character, was used as matrix, and the intact molecular ions were detected in two examples, in negative ion mode as the [M](-·) species. Results obtained with 2-[(2E)-3-(4-tert-buthylphenyl)-2-methylprop-2-enylidene] malononitrile (DCTB) as matrix are also described. LDI experiments provided more information about the rhenium complex structures than did the MALDI ones.

Structural analysis of organometallic compounds with soft ionization mass spectrometry

The analysis of organometallic compounds with mass spectrometry has some special features in comparison with organic and bioorganic compounds. The first step is the choice of a suitable ionization technique, where the electrospray ionization is certainly the best possibility for most classes of organometallic compounds and metal complexes. Some ionization mechanisms of organometallic compounds are comparable to organic molecules, such as protonation/deprotonation, and adduct formation with sodium or potassium ions; however, in many cases, different mechanisms and their combinations complicate the spectra interpretation. Organometallics frequently undergo various types of adduct and polymerization reactions that result in significantly higher masses observed in the spectra in comparison to molecular weights of studied compounds. Metal elements typically have more natural isotopes than common organic elements, which cause characteristic wide distributions of isotopic peaks; for example, tin has ten natural isotopes. The isotopic pattern can be used for the identification of the type and number of metal elements in particular ions. The ionization and fragmentation behavior also depend on the type of metal atom; therefore, our discussion of mass spectra interpretation is divided according to the different type of organometallic compounds. Among various types of mass spectrometers available on the market, trap-based analyzers (linear or spherical ion-traps, Orbitrap) are suitable to study complex fragmentation pathways of organometallic ions and their adducts, whereas high-resolution and high-mass accuracy analyzers (time-of-flight-based analyzers, or Fourier transform-based analyzers-Orbitrap or ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometers) provide accurate masses applicable for the determination of the elemental composition of individual ions.

Polymeric architectures of bismuth citrate based on dimeric building blocks

Four bismuth complexes, (H₂En)[Bi₂(cit)₂(H₂O)_4/3]·(H₂O)_x (1), (H₂En)₃[Bi₂(cit)₂Cl₄]·(H₂O)_x (2), (HPy)₂[Bi₂(cit)₂(H₂O)_8/5]·(H₂O)_x (3) and (H₂En)[Bi₂(cit)₂](H₂O)_x (4) [cit = citrate⁴⁻; En = ethylenediamine; Py = pyridine] have been synthesized and crystallized. The crystal structures reveal that the basic building blocks in all of these complexes are bismuth citrate dimeric units which combine to form polymeric architectures. The embedded protonated ethylenediamine and pyridine moieties in the polymeric frameworks have been identified by X-ray crystallography and solid-state cross polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) ¹³C NMR. Based on the framework of complex 1, a structural model of a clinically used antiulcer drug, ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC) was generated. The behavior of the protonated amine-bismuth citrate complexes in acidic aqueous solution has been studied by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS).

Intramolecular scrambling of aryl groups in organopalladium complexes [ArPd(PPh3)2]+: from solution to the gas phase, back again, and in-between

Gas-phase experiments are used to probe the intramolecular scrambling of aryl groups between palladium and phosphorus in organopalladium complexes, [ArPd(PPh(3))(2)](+), generated by means of electrospray ionization (ESI). To this aim, ESI mass spectrometry, including tandem mass spectrometric experiments, were carried out on deuterated, non-deuterated, and substituted [ArPd(PPh(3))(2)](+) complexes. The fragment ions obtained from the deuterated parent ions clearly show the occurrence of intramolecular scrambling between the aryl group bound to palladium and the phenyl groups of the phosphine in the gas phase. Fragmentation pathways, supported by a statistical model, are proposed to explain these migrations and the implications for the condensed-phase chemistry are probed experimentally by using ESI mass spectrometry.

Studies on gas-phase cyclometalations of [ArNi(PPh3)n]+ (n = 1 or 2) by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Gas-phase cyclometalation of [ArNi(PPh(3))(n)](+) (n = 1, 2) complexes have been studied by ESI-MS/MS. The electron-donating substituents of aromatic iodides in the para position were found to inhibit the cyclometalation process of losing ArH, while the electron-withdrawing substituents in the para position were found to enhance it. These results indicate that the cyclometalation process of losing ArH is favored by electron-deficient aromatic groups. In addition, the detailed dissociation pathways of the cationic nickel complexes were studied, and among these pathways, the process of aryl-aryl interchange was also found to proceed in ESI-MS/MS.

An experimental and theoretical investigation into the hydrolysis of dichloro(ethylenediamine)platinum(II) via electrospray mass spectrometry and density functional theory

Dichloro(ethylenediamine)platinum(II), Pt(en)Cl(2), was dissolved in H(2)O and D(2)O, and the resulting aqueous solutions were electrosprayed into a quadrupole ion-trap mass spectrometer. A series of major and minor ionic hydrolysis products were detected. These ions were then subjected to collision-induced dissociation. As an aid in interpreting the experimental results, density functional theory calculations were carried out. These computations permitted the structures and energetics associated with the hydrolysis products to be determined. An understanding of the hydrolysis of PtenCl(2) and related coordination complexes is essential in the rational design of metal-based drugs.

Isomer separation and gas-phase configurations of organoruthenium anticancer complexes: ion mobility mass spectrometry and modeling

We have used ion mobility-mass spectrometry combined with molecular modeling for the separation and configurational analysis of three low-molecular-weight isomeric organoruthenium anticancer complexes containing ortho-, meta-, or para-terphenyl arene ligands. The isomers were separated using ion mobility based on traveling-wave technology and the experimentally determined collision cross sections were compared to theoretical calculations. Excellent agreement was observed between the experimentally and theoretically derived measurements.

Binding of 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine to Salen- and Salan-Cr(III) cations: a mechanistic understanding on the difference in their catalytic activity for CO2/epoxide copolymerization

The coordination chemistry of 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) with Salen- or Salan- (where the tetradentate N,N'-disubstituted bisaminophenoxide is designated as Salan, a saturated version of the Schiff-base Salen ligand) chromium complexes was studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The relative stabilities of mono DMAP adducts of these chromium complexes were characterized by collision-induced dissociation (CID) and further discussed with regard to the activity in catalyzing CO(2)/epoxide copolymerization. [SalenCr](+) cations preferably bind two DMAP molecules to form six-coordinated complex ions, while [SalanCr](+) cations usually bind one molecule of DMAP to form five-coordinated complex ions, which were found to be relatively unstable. The remarkable difference in the coordination of DMAP to these two chromium complexes resulted in a significant difference in catalytic activity for the alternating copolymerization of CO(2) and propylene oxide. In the presence of 1 equiv of DMAP, the activity of the chromium-Salan complex 2a was up to 86 h(-1) of TOF at ambient temperature, which was about 30 times that of the corresponding chromium-Salen complex 1a. In sharp contrast to a long induction period up to 2 h with the use of 1a in conjunction with DMAP as catalyst, no initiation time or a very short one was observed in the binary 2a/DMAP catalyst systems. The initiator role of DMAP was confirmed by continuous determination of the propagating polymer species at various intervals using ESI-MS, which in combination with a kinetic study by means of infrared spectroscopy resulted in a mechanistic understanding on the difference in activity of the two catalyst systems for CO(2)/epoxide copolymerization.

Electron-capture dissociation and collision-induced dissociation of lanthanide metal-ligand complexes and lanthanide metal-ligand complexes bound to phosphopeptides

Collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron-capture dissociation (ECD) of lanthanide metal(III)-ligand complexes and lanthanide metal(III)-ligand-phosphopeptide complexes have been investigated using a Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS). Ternary adducts were formed for [LnL(3+)+solvent anion(s)(n-)]((3-n)+) [Ln=europium, terbium and ytterbium, L=heptadentate ligand, solvent anion=acetate or trifluoromethane-sulphonate (triflate)]. Results show that ECD provides much more diagnostically useful information than CID. ECD was found to systematically cleave N-C bonds in the "arms" of the ligand, similar to the N-C(alpha) cleavage of peptides, generating two fragmentation sites per arm of the ligand. The most intense and informative fragment ions were obtained from the terbium complex and it is believed that this is a consequence of terbium's greater reduction potential: the greater the reduction potential, the greater the ligand fragmentation; the lower the reduction potential, the more likely the molecule is to relinquish the solvent anion. The choice of solvent is also shown to be important. In general, the complexes studied fragment easily to lose CH(3)CO(2)H; however, particularly for ECD, the complexes retain the triflate anion causing the ligand to fragment instead, thus providing much more useful information. The triflate anion can be displaced by a phosphopeptide to create a lanthanide metal-ligand-phosphopeptide adduct. ECD is able to sequence the phosphopeptide, locating the site of phosphorylation bound to [LnL](3+) and also confirm the identity of the ligand. Small differences in the fragmentation of the lanthanide metal-ligand-phosphopeptide adducts follow the trend Eu <Tb <Yb suggesting that charge density may now be a more significant factor than metal ion reduction potential. ECD analysis of the triflate salts of the terbium complexes is most informative in developing a method to optimise structural information that can be gained from this group of molecules by mass spectrometry.

Pseudoisotopic Molecule Mass Spectrometry: A Useful Tool for Studying Assembly and Exchange in Multinuclear Complexes

Herein, we introduce the concept of pseudoisotope to describe particles which have similar chemistry but different masses. Examples include ligands with different substituents or metal ions with identical charges and similar coordination properties. Mixtures of pseudoisotopes may be used to establish rapidly the nuclearity of polynuclear species by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. Pseudoisotope exchange allows the study of the dynamics of polynuclear complexes, and shows these reactions may be surprisingly slow. The evolution of the mass spectra indicates the degree of fragmentation occurring during the exchange.

Enantioselective addition of boronates to acyl imines catalyzed by chiral biphenols

On the big screen: A chiral biphenol catalyst screening protocol was developed for the rapid identification of enantioselective nucleophilic boronate reactions with acyl imines (see scheme). The approach successfully identified a unique catalyst for the reaction of aryl, vinyl, and alkynyl boronates. Mechanistic studies demonstrate boronate ligand exchange with the catalyst is necessary for activation towards nucleophilic addition.

Thermal formation of mixed-metal inorganic complexes at atmospheric pressure

Atmospheric-pressure thermal desorption ionization (APTDI), a new variant on older ionization methods, is employed to generate gas-phase ions from inorganic and organometallic compounds. The method is compared to conventional electrospray ionization (ESI) of these compounds and found in most cases examined to yield simpler mass spectra which are useful in the characterization of the pure compounds. Cluster formation, however, is prominent in these spectra and mixtures of V(IV)O(salen), Ni(II)(salen) and Co(II)(salen) show mixed-metal cluster ions. This makes APTDI a way to prepare gas-phase ions which contain multiple selected metal atoms and ligands. Such mixed-metal complexes can be mass-selected and structurally characterized by tandem mass spectrometry. Strong contrasts are evident in the dissociation behavior of homonuclear and heteronuclear metal clusters, the latter showing accompanying redox processes. The chemical reactivity accompanying collision-induced dissociation (CID) of some of the mixed-metal clusters is typified by the protonated species H+[NiVO(salen)], which undergoes a formal oxidation process (hydrogen atom loss) to give the molecular radical cation of Ni(salen). This ionization method may provide a new route to unique inorganic compounds on surfaces through soft landing of appropriate cluster ions. The contrasting behavior of the ESI and APTDI processes is evident in the salens where ESI shows simple Bronsted acid/base chemistry, no mixed-metal clusters and no redox chemistry.