<p>We report on a previously unknown reaction mechanism involving water in the fragmentation reaction following chemical ionization. This result stems from a study presented here on the humidity-dependent and energy-dependent endoergic fragmentation of allyl methyl sulfide (AMS) upon protonation in a proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). The fragmentation pathways were studied with experimental (PTR-MS) and quantum chemical methods (polarizable continuum model (PCM), microhydration, studied at the MP2/6-311+G(3df,2p)//MP2/6-31G(d,p) level of theory). We report in detail on the energy profiles, reaction mechanisms, and proton affinities (G4MP2 calculations). In the discovered reaction mechanism, water reduces the fragmentation of protonated species in chemical ionization. It does so by direct interaction with the protonated species via covalent binding (C3H5(+)) or via association (AMS&middot;H(+)). This stabilizes intermediate complexes and thus overall increases the activation energy for fragmentation. Water thereby acts as a reusable inhibitor (anticatalyst) in chemical ionization. Moreover, according to the quantum chemical (QC) results, when water is present in abundance it has the opposite effect and enhances fragmentation. The underlying reason is a concentration-dependent change in the reaction principle from active inhibition of fragmentation to solvation, which then enhances fragmentation. This amphoteric behavior of water is found for the fragmentation of C3H5(+) to C3H3(+), and similarly for the fragmentation of AMS&middot;H(+) to C3H5(+). The results support humidity-dependent quantification efforts for PTR-MS and chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS). Moreover, the results should allow for a better understanding of ion-chemistry in the presence of water.</p>

We report the energy-dependent fragmentation patterns upon protonation of eight sulfides (organosulfur compounds) in Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS). Studies were carried out, both, experimentally with PTR-MS, and with theoretical quantum-chemical methods. Charge retention usually occurred at the sulfur-containing fragment for short chain sulfides. An exception to this is found in the unsaturated monosulfide allylmethyl sulfide (AMS), which preferentially fragmented to a carbo-cation at m/z 41, C3H5(+). Quantum chemical calculations (DFT with the M062X functional 6-31G(d,p) basis sets) for the fragmentation reaction pathways of AMS indicated that the most stable protonated AMS cation at m/z 89 is a protonated (cyclic) thiirane, and that the fragmentation reaction pathways of AMS in the drift tube are kinetically controlled. The protonated parent ion MH(+) is the predominant product in PTR-MS, except for diethyl disulfide at high collisional energies. The saturated monosulfides R-S-R' (with R<R') have little or no fragmentation, at the same time the most abundant fragment ion is the smaller R-S(+) fragment. The saturated disulfides R-S-S-R display more fragmentation than the saturated monosulfides, the most common fragments are disulfide containing fragments or long-chain carbo-cations. The results rationalize fragmentation data for saturated monosulfides and disulfides and represent a detailed analysis of the fragmentation of an unsaturated sulfide. Apart from the theoretical interest, the results are in support of the quantitative analysis of sulfides with PTR-MS, all the more so as PTR-MS is one of a few techniques that allow for ultra-low quantitative analysis of sulfides.

Proton transfer reaction - mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) has become a reference technique in environmental science allowing for VOC monitoring with low detection limits. The recent introduction of time-of-flight mass analyzer (PTR-ToF-MS) opens new horizons in terms of mass resolution, acquisition time, and mass range. A standard procedure to perform quantitative VOC measurements with PTR-ToF-MS is to calibrate the instrument using a standard gas. However, given the number of compounds that can be simultaneously monitored by PTR-ToF-MS, such a procedure could become impractical, especially when standards are not readily available. In the present work we show that, under particular conditions, VOC concentration determinations based only on theoretical predictions yield good accuracy. We investigate a range of humidity and operating conditions and show that theoretical VOC concentration estimations are accurate when the effect of water cluster ions is negligible. We also show that PTR-ToF-MS can successfully be used to estimate reaction rate coefficients between H(3)O(+) and VOC at PTR-MS working conditions and find good agreement with the corresponding nonthermal theoretical predictions. We provide a tabulation of theoretical rate coefficients for a number of relevant volatile organic compounds at various energetic conditions and test the approach in a laboratory study investigating the oxidation of alpha-pinene.

Volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) are key compounds in many fields of basic and applied science and technology, such as environmental sciences, food science, geochemistry, petrochemistry, agriculture, biology and medicine. Proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) allows for on-line monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and, in particular, of VSCs with ultra low detection limits and a fast response time. In principle, with PTR-MS, absolute quantification of VOC concentrations without calibration is possible, provided the branching ratios are known. However, for this, the reaction rate coefficients between VOCs and the hydronium ion have also to be known. Several well-established theories may be used to determine ion-neutral molecule reaction rate coefficients. In the case of H3O+–VOC reactions proceeding in a PTR-MS drift tube, a key factor to be considered is the centre-of-mass energy, which is generally much higher than the thermal energy, due to the additional translational (drift) energy of the ion. Nevertheless, it is common practice to employ collision theories that do not show an explicit dependence on the centre-of-mass energy. First we review basic aspects of ion-neutral reactions in the PTR-MS drift tube and various methods to calculate reaction rate coefficients. Next, we calculate, on the basis of quantum chemical methods and different theoretical approaches for ion-molecule collisions, reaction rate coefficients between selected sulphur compounds and H3O+. Finally, we discuss proper methods for the calculations of ion-neutral molecule reaction rate coefficients in the context of PTR-MS and the corresponding experimental parameters involved.