Protonated nitrous acid (H2ONO+): Molecular structure, vibrational frequencies, and proton affinity

Ambient analysis of trace compounds in gaseous media by SIFT-MS

The topic of ambient gas analysis has been rapidly developed in the last few years with the evolution of the exciting new techniques such as DESI, DART and EESI. The essential feature of all is that analysis of trace gases can be accomplished either in the gas phase or those released from surfaces, crucially avoiding sample collection or modification. In this regard, selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, also performs ambient analyses both accurately and rapidly. In this focused review we describe the underlying ion chemistry underpinning SIFT-MS through a discourse on the reactions of different classes of organic and inorganic molecules with H(3)O(+), NO(+) and O(2)(+)˙ studied using the SIFT technique. Rate coefficients and ion products of these reactions facilitate absolute SIFT-MS analyses and can also be useful for the interpretation of data obtained by the other ambient analysis methods mentioned above. The essential physics and flow dynamics of SIFT-MS are described that, together with the reaction kinetics, allow SIFT-MS to perform absolute ambient analyses of trace compounds in humid atmospheric air, exhaled breath and the headspace of aqueous liquids. Several areas of research that, through pilot experiments, are seen to benefit from ambient gas analysis using SIFT-MS are briefly reviewed. Special attention is given to exhaled breath and urine headspace analysis directed towards clinical diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring, and some other areas researched using SIFT-MS are summarised. Finally, extensions to current areas of application and indications of other directions in which SIFT-MS can be exploited for ambient analysis are alluded to.

Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) for on-line trace gas analysis

Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) is a new analytical technique for the real-time quantification of several trace gases simultaneously in air and breath. It relies on chemical ionization of the trace gas molecules in air/breath samples introduced into helium carrier gas using H(3)O(+), NO(+), and O(2) (+.) precursor ions. Reactions between the precursor ions and trace gas molecules proceed for an accurately defined time, the precursor and product ions being detected and counted by a downstream mass spectrometer, thus effecting quantification. Absolute concentrations of trace gases in single breath exhalation can be determined by SIFT-MS down to ppb levels, obviating sample collection and calibration. Illustrative examples of SIFT-MS studies include (i) analysis of gases from combustion engines, animals and their waste, and food; (ii) breath and urinary headspace studies of metabolites, ethanol metabolism, elevated acetone during ovulation, and exogenous compounds; and (iii) urinary infection and the presence of tumors, the influence of dialysis on breath ammonia, acetone, and isoprene, and acetaldehyde released by cancer cells in vitro. Flowing afterglow mass spectrometry (FA-MS) is briefly described, which allows on-line quantification of deuterium in breath water vapor.

Protonation study of peroxynitric acid and peroxynitrous acid

The equilibrium structures and harmonic vibrational frequencies of peroxynitric acid (HOONO(2)) and seven structures of protonated peroxynitric acid, along with peroxynitrous acid (HOONO) and its 12 protonated peroxynitrous acid structures, have been investigated using several ab initio and density functional methods. The ab initio methods include second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory, quadratic configuration interaction, including single and double excitations theory (QCISD), and the QCISD(T) methods, which incorporate a perturbational estimate of the effects of connected triple excitation. The Becke three-parameter hybrid functional combined with Lee, Yang, and Parr correlation function is the density functional method used. The lowest energy form of protonated peroxynitric acid is a complex between H(2)O(2) and NO(+) rather than between H(2)O and NO(2) (+). For peroxynitrous acid, a complex between H(2)O(2) and NO(2) (+) is found to be the lowest energy structure. The ab initio proton affinity (PA) of HOONO and HOONO(2) is predicted to be 182.1 and 175.1 kcal mol(-1), respectively, at the QCISD(T)/6-311++G(3df,3pd) level of theory. The results are contrasted with an earlier study on nitrous acid, and is shown that peroxynitric acid and peroxynitrous acid have a smaller PA than nitrous acid.

Nitrosation of thiols and thioethers in the gas phase: a combined theoretical and experimental study

Recent studies have demonstrated the biological importance of the interaction of nitric oxide with proteins such as cytochrome-c or hemoglobin. In particular, the possibility that the nitrosonium cation, NO(+), could reversibly bind to sulfide atom type was proposed. At pH values of biological relevance, nitrosation was proposed to occur through the action of NO(+) carriers such as nitrosothiols or nitrosamines. In this context, the gas phase chemistry of protonated nitrosothiols is studied in the present work by a combination of mass spectrometry and computational methods.