Yin Q, Guo N, Yin X, Ma G, Huang Y, Pan Y. Intramolecular benzyl cation transfer in the gas-phase fragmentation of protonated benzyl phenyl sulfones.
JOURNAL OF MASS SPECTROMETRY : JMS 2021;
56:e4691. [PMID:
33295108 DOI:
10.1002/jms.4691]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In this study, the gas-phase fragmentations of protonated benzyl phenyl sulfones were investigated by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn ). Upon collisional activation, several characteristic fragment ions were observed, and the similar results occurred with different substituted benzyl phenyl sulfones. A mechanism involving an intramolecular benzyl cation transfer and the formation of intermediate ion was proposed and further identified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In addition, a reference compound, benzenesulfinic acid benzyl ester, has been synthesized, and its protonated ion has the same gas-phase behavior as compared to the protonated benzyl phenyl sulfone. This work provides access to some insight into the intramolecular benzyl-transfer reactions of benzyl phenyl sulfones in the gas phase and orients the characteristic peaks in collision-induced dissociation spectrometry (CID-MS).
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