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Low‐mass ions observed in plasma desorption mass spectrometry of high explosives
Author(s) -
Håkansson Kristina,
Coorey Ramal V.,
Zubarev Roman A.,
Talrose Victor L.,
Håkansson Per
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 1076-5174
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9888(200003)35:3<337::aid-jms940>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - chemistry , protonation , ion , explosive material , desorption , mass spectrometry , decomposition , mass spectrum , matrix (chemical analysis) , adsorption , analytical chemistry (journal) , inorganic chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry
The low‐mass ions observed in both positive and negative plasma desorption mass spectrometry (PDMS) of the high explosives HMX, RDX, CL‐20, NC, PETN and TNT are reported. Possible identities of the most abundant ions are suggested and their presence or absence in the different spectra is related to the properties of the explosives as matrices in PDMS. The detection of abundant NO + and NO 2 − ions for HMX, RDX and CL‐20, which are efficient matrices, indicates that explosive decomposition takes place in PDMS of these three substances and that a contribution from the corresponding chemical energy release is possible. The observation of abundant C 2 H 4 N + and CH 2 N + ions, which have high protonation properties, might also explain the higher protein charge states observed with these matrices. Also, the observation of NO 2 − , possibly formed by electron scavenging which increases the survival probability of positively charged protein molecular ions, completes the pattern. TNT does not give any of these ions and it is thereby possible to explain why it does not work as a PDMS matrix. For NC and PETN, decomposition does not seem to be as pronounced as for HMX, RDX and CL‐20, and also no particularly abundant ions with high protonation properties are observed. The fact that NC works well as a matrix might be related to other properties of this compound, such as its high adsorption ability. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.