Open AccessFast atom bombardment combined with mass spectrometry for characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Author(s) -
Chhabil Dass
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of the american society for mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.961
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1879-1123
pISSN - 1044-0305
DOI - 10.1016/1044-0305(90)85021-d
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , fast atom bombardment , characterization (materials science) , polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon , environmental chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , chromatography , nanotechnology , materials science
A new approach using fast atom bombardment combined with mass spectrometry to characterize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the range of 128-252 u molecular weight is described. Sulfolane was employed as a liquid matrix for these π-conjugated hydrocarbons. Bombardment of sulfolane solution of certain PAHs with an atom beam produces both radical cation (M(+.)) and protonated molecule [(M + H)(+)], with no evidence of fragmentation. Collisional activation of the fast atom bombardment-desorbed M(+.) ions, however, results in several structure-specific fragment ions. Structural differences in a few isomeric hydrocarbons can be detected using the [(M + H)(+)]/[M(+.)] abundance ratio and in the pyrene-fluoranthene pair by the B/E linked-field-collision-activated dissociation data. The [(M + H)(+)]/[M(+.)] was found to be compound-specific and correlated well with certain properties (resonance energy, proton affinity, and ionizing energy) of PAHs.