Modes of activation of organometallic iridium complexes for catalytic water and C-H oxidation.

Sodium periodate (NaIO4) is added to Cp*Ir(III) (Cp* = C5Me5(-)) or (cod)Ir(I) (cod = cyclooctadiene) complexes, which are water and C-H oxidation catalyst precursors, and the resulting aqueous reaction is investigated from milliseconds to seconds using desorption electrospray ionization, electrosonic spray ionization, and cryogenic ion vibrational predissociation spectroscopy. Extensive oxidation of the Cp* ligand is observed, likely beginning with electrophilic C-H hydroxylation of a Cp* methyl group followed by nonselective pathways of further oxidative degradation. Evidence is presented that the supporting chelate ligand in Cp*Ir(chelate) precursors influences the course of oxidation and is neither eliminated from the coordination sphere nor oxidatively transformed. Isomeric products of initial Cp* oxidation are identified and structurally characterized by vibrational spectroscopy in conjunction with density functional theory (DFT) modeling. Less extensive but more rapid oxidation of the cod ligand is also observed in the (cod)Ir(I) complexes. The observations are consistent with the proposed role of Cp* and cod as sacrificial placeholder ligands that are oxidatively removed from the precursor complexes under catalytic conditions.

Determination of natural pyrethrins by liquid chromatography-electron ionisation-mass spectrometry.

INTRODUCTION: Pyrethrum extract is a mixture of six insecticidal compounds from the flower heads of Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium L.. Since they only have low to moderate mammalian toxicity they can be used as natural insecticides in agriculture or to develop low cost and safe dermatological formulations. Because of the thermal instability of pyrethrins, analytical methods based on liquid chromatography (LC) are preferred over those based on gas chromatography (GC). A few applications using LC with mass spectrometry detection are presented in the literature. Current protocols for their characterisation by LC rely on the use of less sophisticated detectors such as UV detection. OBJECTIVE: To develop the first liquid chromatography-electron ionisation-mass spectrometry (LC-EI-MS) method for pyrethrins detection and quantitation in pyrethrum extracts. METHODOLOGY: A commercial pyrethrum extract and various samples of flower heads from C. cinerariaefolium L. were investigated using reversed-phase nano-liquid chromatography coupled to direct electron ionisation-mass spectrometry (nanoLC-direct EI-MS). The eluted compounds were identified through searches of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library, exploiting the direct EI capability to produce high quality EI mass spectra. RESULTS: The method demonstrated satisfactory sensitivity (limit of detection (LOD) range: 0.04-0.38 mg/g), linearity (R² range: 0.9740-0.9983) and precision (RSD% range: 4-13%) for the quantitation of the natural pyrethrins in extracts from C. cinerariaefolium L. CONCLUSION: The nanoLC-direct EI-MS technique can be a useful tool for the detection of pyrethrins.

Nano-liquid chromatography-direct electron ionization mass spectrometry: improving performance by a new ion source adapter.

A novel interface adapter has been designed to provide a new way of directly coupling a nano-liquid chromatograph to an electron ionization mass spectrometer. It connects the transfer capillary coming from the liquid chromatograph to the ionization chamber and can be easily screwed into the ion source. Liquid coming from the column passes through the heated adapter flow path and is vaporized. A continuous flow of new liquid pushes the vapor into the ionization chamber where it is ionized and continues on to the mass analyzer. The advantages of the new adapter are reduced ice formation inside the ion source and less clogging of the transfer capillary. Improvements achieved are demonstrated on the basis of caffeine and steroid analysis. The limits of detection of selected steroids are compared with and without the adapter. The adapter improves the detection limit of the system by a factor of 2 and precision from ≤15% to ≤9% relative standard deviation. No derivatization procedure is necessary before the analysis of small polar compounds. The resulting spectra are reproducible, easily interpretable, and database searchable. The new method is robust, delivers reproducible results, and provides a highly efficient alternative to existing methods in the field of pharmaceutical analysis.

Analysis of boronic acids by nano liquid chromatography-direct electron ionization mass spectrometry.

A new method, based on a direct-electron ionization (EI) interface, is presented for the analysis of compounds insufficiently amenable to usual MS methods. The instrumentation is composed of a nano liquid chromatograph (LC) and a mass spectrometer (MS) directly coupled by a transfer capillary. The eluent is directly introduced into the heated electron impact ion source of the MS. Significant advantages are the generation of reproducible spectra and the ability to ionize highly polar compounds. Boronic acids are used as coupling reagents to produce drugs, agrochemicals, or herbicides. The purity of educts is of high importance because impurities in the educt are directly associated with impurities in the product. Because of their high polarity and tendency to form boroxines, boronic acids require derivatization for GC analysis. The presented nano-LC-EI/MS method is easily applicable for a broad range of boronic acids. The method shows good detection limits for boronic acids up to 200 pg, is perfectly linear, and shows a very high robustness and reproducibility. A mixture of compounds could easily be separated on a monolithic RP18e column. The method represents a new, simple, robust, and reproducible approach for the detection of polar analytes. It is a good candidate to become a standard method for industrial applications.