Ion Dissociation Dynamics of 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydronaphthalene: Tetralin as a Test Case For Hydrogenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

The unimolecular dissociation of ionized tetralin was probed by tandem mass spectrometry, imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence (iPEPICO) spectroscopy, and theory. The major reactions observed were the loss of the hydrocarbons CH3•, C2H4, and C3H5• together with H•-atom loss. RRKM modeling of the iPEPICO data suggested a two-well potential energy surface. Ionized tetralin can lose all four neutrals via H-shift and ring-opening reactions or CH3• and C2H4 after interconversion to the 1-methylindane ion, a process similar to that found for ionized 1,2-dihydronaphthalene (isomerizing to form the 1-methylindene ion structure). This was confirmed at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory, and potential mechanisms for all reactions are described. The ionization energy of tetralin was established from the threshold photoelectron spectrum to be 8.46 ± 0.01 eV.

Hydroxy-Substituted Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Ions as Sources of CO and HCO in the Interstellar Medium.

Tandem mass spectrometry was used to explore the trends in the unimolecular fragmentation of the ionized hydroxy-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons 1-naphthol, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, and 1-hydroxypyrene. The main dissociation reactions across all ring systems were CO- and HCO-losses, with ionized 1-naphthol also losing H atoms. Both ionized 1-naphthol and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene displayed the sequential loss of C2H2 and C4H2 from the [M-HCO]+ ions, reminiscent of unsubstituted PAH ions. CO-loss is slightly favored for 1-naphthol and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, at low collision energy, but less so for 1-hydroxypyrene. Reaction mechanisms for HCO- and CO-losses from 1-hydroxypyrene were derived from CCSD/6-31G(d)//B3-LYP/6-31G(d) calculations. The CO-loss mechanism is dominated by two transition states: TS-A governing a 1,3-H shift in the molecular ion and TS-C which governs a ring-closing step to form a five-member ring in the product ion. HCO-loss occurs over a much flatter potential energy surface with the intermediate being the product ion bound to the carbon atom of HCO. Imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy of 1-hydroxypyrene yielded threshold photon-energy resolved breakdown curves and time-of-flight distributions that were modeled with RRKM theory to give 0 K reaction energies for HCO- and CO-losses of 3.92 ± 0.05 and 2.91 ± 0.05 eV, respectively. The entropies of activation for the two channels were very different, 14 and 95 JK-1 mol-1, respectively, a result consistent with the calculated mechanisms. The threshold photoelectron spectrum yielded an IE value of 7.14 ± 0.01 eV for 1-hydroxypyrene.

What Will Photo-Processing of Large, Ionized Amino-Substituted Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Produce in the Interstellar Medium?

Collision-energy resolved tandem mass spectrometry was used to probe the trends in unimolecular fragmentation in a series of ionized amino-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ranging from naphthalene to pyrene. As the ring system expands, the dominant dissociation process changes from HNC loss (aniline) to H loss for 1-aminopyrene. Imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy of 1-aminopyrene yielded threshold photon-energy resolved breakdown curves, the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus modeling of which gave a 0 K activation energy, E0, for H loss of 3.8 ± 0.4 eV. Calculations at the CCSD/6-31G(d)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory were used to explore the possible reaction mechanisms for H, HNC, and C,N,H2 losses, and details of the reaction pathways are presented. The H atom loss was found to be due both to direct N-H bond cleavage and isomerization to form an azepine derivative.

Why Do Large Ionized Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Not Lose C2H2?

The reaction mechanisms for the loss of C2H2 from the ions of anthracene, phenanthrene, tetracene, and pyrene were calculated at the B3-LYP/6-311++G(2d,p) level of theory and compared to that previously published for ionized naphthalene. A common pathway emerged involving the isomerization of the molecular ions to azulene-containing analogues, followed by the contraction of the seven-member ring into a five- and four-member fused ring system, leading to the cleavage of C2H2. The key transition state was found to be for this last process, and its relative energy was consistent going from naphthalene to tetracene. That for pyrene, though, was significantly higher due to the inability of the azulene moiety to achieve a stable conformation because of the presence of the three fused rings. Thus, C2H2 loss is discriminated against in pericondensed PAHs. For catacondensed PAHs, C2H2 loss also drops in relative abundance as the PAH gets larger due to the increase in the number of available hydrogen atoms, increasing the rate constant for H atom loss over that for C2H2 loss as PAH size increases. The unimolecular reactions of four cyano-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) ions were also probed as a function of collision energy by collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry. As the size of the ring system increases, HCN loss decreases in importance relative to other processes (H and C2H2 loss). 9-Cyanophenanthrene ions were chosen for further exploration by theory and imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence (iPEPICO) spectroscopy. The calculated reaction pathway and energetics for C2H2 loss were consistent with those found above. The calculations suggest that larger PAHs of interest in the interstellar environment will behave independently of a CN substituent.

Unimolecular Dissociation of 1-Methylpyrene Cations: Why Are 1-Methylenepyrene Cations Formed and Not a Tropylium-Containing Ion?

1-Methylpyrene radical cations undergo the loss of a hydrogen atom at internal energies above the first dissociation threshold. Imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy was employed in combination with RRKM modeling to determine a 0 K activation energy of 2.78 ± 0.25 eV and an entropy of activation of 6 ± 19 J K-1 mol-1 for this H-loss reaction. The ionization energy of 1-methylpyrene was measured by mass-selected threshold photoelectron spectroscopy to be 7.27 ± 0.01 eV. These values were found to be consistent with calculations at the CCSD/6-31G(d)//B3-LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory showing that the formation of the 1-methylenepyrene cation (resulting from H loss from the methyl group) is kinetically more favorable than the formation of a tropylium-containing product ion that is structurally analogous to the formation of the tropylium cation in H loss from ionized toluene. The shift away from a tropylium-containing structure was found to be due to the increased ring strain imposed on the C7 moiety when it is bound to three fused benzene rings. The RRKM results allow for the derivation of the Δf H0o (1-methylenepyrene cation) of 945 ± 31 kJ mol-1.

Unimolecular reaction energies for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ions.

Imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy was employed to explore the unimolecular dissociation of the ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) acenaphthylene, fluorene, cyclopenta[d,e,f]phenanthrene, pyrene, perylene, fluoranthene, dibenzo[a,e]pyrene, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, coronene and corannulene. The primary reaction is always hydrogen atom loss, with the smaller species also exhibiting loss of C2H2 to varying extents. Combined with previous work on smaller PAH ions, trends in the reaction energies (E0) for loss of H from sp2-C and sp3-C centres, along with hydrocarbon molecule loss were found as a function of the number of carbon atoms in the ionized PAHs ranging in size from naphthalene to coronene. In the case of molecules which possessed at least one sp3-C centre, the activation energy for the loss of an H atom from this site was 2.34 eV, with the exception of cyclopenta[d,e,f]phenanthrene (CPP) ions, for which the E0 was 3.44 ± 0.86 eV due to steric constraints. The hydrogen loss from PAH cations and from their H-loss fragments exhibits two trends, depending on the number of unpaired electrons. For the loss of the first hydrogen atom, the energy is consistently ca. 4.40 eV, while the threshold to lose the second hydrogen atom is much lower at ca. 3.16 eV. The only exception was for the dibenzo[a,l]pyrene cation, which has a unique structure due to steric constraints, resulting in a low H loss reaction energy of 2.85 eV. If C2H2 is lost directly from the precursor cation, the energy required for this dissociation is 4.16 eV. No other fragmentation channels were observed over a large enough sample set for trends to be extrapolated, though data on CH3 and C4H2 loss obtained in previous studies is included for completeness. The dissociation reactions were also studied by collision induced dissociation after ionization by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. When modeled with a simple temperature-based theory for the post-collision internal energy distribution, there was reasonable agreement between the two sets of data.

MALDI-imaging enables direct observation of kinetic and thermodynamic products of mixed peptide fiber assembly.

Controlling the self-assembly of multicomponent systems provides a key to designing new materials and understanding the molecular complexity of biology. Here, we demonstrate the first use of MALDI-imaging to characterize a multicomponent self-assembling peptide fiber. Observations of mixed peptide systems over time demonstrate how simple sequence variation can change the balance between kinetic and thermodynamic products.

Dissociative photoionization and threshold photoelectron spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fragments: an imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence (iPEPICO) study of four substituted benzene radical cations.

Four molecules were investigated by imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence (iPEPICO) spectroscopy: 1-propynylbenzene, indene, ethynylbenzene, and benzocyclobutene. Their threshold photoelectron spectrum was obtained and electronic transitions were assigned by OVGF (outer valence Green's function) calculations. Vibrational progressions observed in the electronic ground and excited states were simulated by calculating Franck-Condon factors based on the neutral as well as the cation ground and excited state geometries. iPEPICO was used to obtain ion dissociation data in threshold photoionization as a function of photon energy, which were modeled with RRKM theory to extract kinetic parameters for the reactions C9H8(+•) (1-propynylbezene) → C9H7(+) + H (R1); C9H8(+•) (indene) → C9H7(+) + H (R2); C8H8(+•) (benzocyclobutene) → C8H7(+) + H (R3); C8H8(+•) (benzocyclobutene) → C6H6(+) + C2H2 (R4); C8H6(+•) (1-ethynylbenzene, aka phenylacetylene) → C6H4(+) + C2H2 (R5). These results were compared to G3 level calculations. In addition, the enthalpy of formation of the indenyl radical was estimated to be ΔfH°0K = 249 ± 50 kJ mol(-1) based on a previously measured IE and a cation ΔfH°0K = 976 kJ mol(-1), determined herein.

Dissociation of the anthracene radical cation: a comparative look at iPEPICO and collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry results.

The dissociation of the anthracene radical cation has been studied using two different methods: imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectrometry (iPEPCO) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-collision induced dissociation mass spectrometry (APCI-CID). Four reactions were investigated: (R1) C14H10(+•) → C14H9(+) + H, (R2) C14H9(+) → C14H8(+•) + H, (R3) C14H10(+•) → C12H8(+•) + C2H2 and (R4) C14H10(+•) → C10H8(+•) + C4H2. An attempt was made to assign structures to each fragment ion, and although there is still room for debate whether for the C12H8(+•) fragment ion is a cyclobuta[b]naphthalene or a biphenylene cation, our modeling results and calculations appear to suggest the more likely structure is cyclobuta[b]naphthalene. The results from the iPEPICO fitting of the dissociation of ionized anthracene are E0 = 4.28 ± 0.30 eV (R1), 2.71 ± 0.20 eV (R2), and 4.20 ± 0.30 eV (average of reaction R3) whereas the Δ(‡)S values (in J K(-1) mol(-1)) are 12 ± 15 (R1), 0 ± 15 (R2), and either 7 ± 10 (using cyclobuta[b]naphthalene ion fragment in reaction R3) or 22 ± 10 (using the biphenylene ion fragment in reaction R3). Modeling of the APCI-CID breakdown diagrams required an estimate of the postcollision internal energy distribution, which was arbitrarily assumed to correspond to a Boltzmann distribution in this study. One goal of this work was to determine if this assumption yields satisfactory energetics in agreement with the more constrained and theoretically vetted iPEPICO results. In the end, it did, with the APCI-CID results being similar.

Photodissociation of pyrene cations: structure and energetics from C16H10(+) to C14(+) and almost everything in between.

The unimolecular dissociation of the pyrene radical cation, C16H10(+•), has been explored using a combination of computational techniques and experimental approaches, such as multiple photon absorption in the cold ion trap Piège à Ions pour la Recherche et l'Etude de Nouvelles Espèces Astrochimiques (PIRENEA) and imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectrometry (iPEPICO). In total, 22 reactions, involving the fragmentation cascade (H, C2H2, and C4H2 loss) from the pyrene radical cation down to the C14(+•) fragment ion, have been studied using PIRENEA. Branching ratios have been measured for reactions from C16H10(+•), C16H8(+•), and C16H5(+). Density functional theory calculations of the fragmentation pathways observed experimentally and postulated theoretically lead to 17 unique structures. One important prediction is the opening of the pyrene ring system starting from the C16H4(+•) radical. In the iPEPICO experiments, only two reactions could be studied, namely, R1 C16H10(+•) → C16H9(+) + H (m/z = 201) and R2 C16H9(+) → C16H8(+•) + H (m/z = 200). The activation energies for these reactions were determined to be 5.4 ± 1.2 and 3.3 ± 1.1 eV, respectively.

Dynamics of hydrogen and methyl radical loss from ionized dihydro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: a tandem mass spectrometry and imaging photoelectron-photoion coincidence (iPEPICO) study of dihydronaphthalene and dihydrophenanthrene.

Ionized 1,2-dihydronaphthalene (C10H10(+)) and 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (C14H12(+)) are homologous dihydrogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons containing adjacent sp(3) carbon sites. Tandem mass spectrometry involving kiloelectronvolt collision induced dissociation was employed to aid in the structural characterization of the products of the main dissociation channels, loss of H (and subsequent H and H2 losses in dihydronaphthalene) and CH3. Evident from both the CID mass spectra and the imaging photoelectron-photoion coincidence (iPEPICO) breakdown curves is the fact that there are two competitive routes to the loss of H. For 1,2-dihydronaphthalene these give activation energies of 2.22 ± 0.10 and 2.44 ± 0.05 eV, whereas only 2.37 ± 0.12 eV was obtained for 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene. The two parallel H-loss chaneels are believed to be the result of isomerization taking place to the methylindene ion and the 9-methylfluorene ion for 1,2-dihydronaphthalene and 9,10-dihydrophenanthren, respectively. Each newly formed isomer dissociates by H loss (one of the two competing H-loss reactions) and, of course, methyl loss. Methyl radical loss has similar kinetics for the two systems, E0 = 2.57 ± 0.12 eV, Δ(‡)S = 18 ± 11 J K(-1) mol(-1) for ionized dihydronaphthalene and E0 = 2.38 ± 0.15 eV, Δ(‡)S = -3 ± 15 J K(-1) mol(-1) for ionized dihydrophenanthrene, but as can be seen, the E0 and Δ(‡)S are slightly lower for the latter. The final bond rupture step in both H and CH3 loss is expected to be accompanied by a positive Δ(‡)S, thus the low energy H loss and CH3 loss originate from the isomer ion in both cases, with the entropy of activation being dominated by the isomerization step. In contrast, sp(3)-H loss from the dihydro-PAHs differ by little in both systems (E0 = 2.44 eV in ionized dihydronaphthalene and 2.37 eV in ionized dihydrophenanthrene and the Δ(‡)S values are 27 and 18 J K(-1) mol(-1), respectively). The presence of a second sp(3) carbon site has decreased the C-H bond dissociation energy relative to protonated naphthalene and protonated phenanthrene, possibly to facilitate the restoration of the unaltered PAH ion. The calculated dihedral angle is -34.3° in C10H10(+•) whereas C14H12(+•) has an angle of -49.6°, indicating that to restore the planar nature of the molecules, which is required for all reaction channels investigated, there is more rearrangement needed for 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene. Energetics and entropic values associated with H and H2 loss from [M - H](+) ions from ionized dihydronaphthalene were determined to be 2.72 eV, 9 ± 17 J K(-1) mol(-1), and 2.85 eV, 9 ± 7 J K(-1) mol(-1), respectively.

On the dissociation of the naphthalene radical cation: new iPEPICO and tandem mass spectrometry results.

The dissociation of the naphthalene radical cation has been reinvestigated here by a combination of tandem mass spectrometry and imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy (iPEPICO). Six reactions were explored: (R1) C(10)H(8)(•+) → C(10)H(7)(+) + H (m/z = 127); (R2) C(10)H(8)(•+) → C(8)H(6)(•+) + C(2)H(2) (m/z = 102); (R3) C(10)H(8)(•+) → C(6)H(6)(•+) + C(4)H(2) (m/z = 78); (R4) C(10)H(8)(•+) → C(10)H(6)(•+) + H(2) (m/z = 126); (R5) C(10)H(7)(+) → C(6)H(5)(+) + C(4)H(2) (m/z = 77); (R6) C(10)H(7)(+) → C(10)H(6)(•+) + H (m/z = 126). The E(0) activation energies for the reactions deduced from the present measurements are (in eV) 4.20 ± 0.04 (R1), 4.12 ± 0.05 (R2), 4.27 ± 0.07 (R3), 4.72 ± 0.06 (R4), 3.69 ± 0.26 (R5), and 3.20 ± 0.13 (R6). The corresponding entropies of activation, ΔS(‡)(1000K), derived in the present study are (in J K(-1) mol(-1)) 2 ± 2 (R1), 0 ± 2 (R2), 4 ± 4 (R3), 11 ± 4 (R4), 5 ± 15 (R5), and -19 ± 11 (R6). The derived E(0) value, combined with the previously reported IE of naphthalene (8.1442 eV) results in an enthalpy of formation for the naphthyl cation, Δ(f)H°(0K) = 1148 ± 14 kJ mol(-1)/Δ(f)H°(298K) = 1123 ± 14 kJ mol(-1) (site of dehydrogenation unspecified), slightly lower than the previous estimate by Gotkis and co-workers. The derived E(0) for the second H-loss leads to a Δ(f)H° for ion 7, the cycloprop[a]indene radical cation, of Δ(f)H°(0K) =1457 ± 27 kJ mol(-1)/Δ(f)H°(298K)(C(10)H(6)(+)) = 1432 ± 27 kJ mol(-1). Detailed comparisons are provided with values (experimental and theoretical) available in the literature.