Fragmentation of deuteronated aromatic derivatives: The role of ion-neutral complexes

The low-energy collision-induced dissociation reactions of the MD+ ions of a number of alkyl phenyl ethers, alkylbenzenes, acetophenones and benzaldehyde have been studied as a function of collision energy to establish qualitatively the dependence of the fragmentation reactions observed on internal energy. Deuteronated alkyl phenyl ethers (ROC6H5 . D+, R = C3H7, C4H9) fragment at low collision energies to form C6H5OHD+ +(R-H), the thermochemically favoured products; with increasing collision energy (and, hence, internal energy) formation of the alkyl ion R+ increases significantly in importance. Deuteronated alkylbenzenes (RC6H5, RC6H4R ', R = C2H5, C3H7) similarly form the deuteronated benzene (the thermochemically favoured product) at low collision energies with formation of the alkyl ion R+ being observed at higher collision energies. The results for both systems are consistent with a fragmentation mechanism involving initial formation of an R+/aromatic ion/neutral complex. At low internal energies proton transfer occurs within this complex to form an ion/neutral complex consisting of the deuteronated aromatic and a neutral olefin; this complex fragments to the thermochemically favoured products. Since the transition state leading to these products is a ''tight'' transition state involving loss of rotational degrees of freedom, the proton transfer reaction is unfavourable entropically with respect to simple dissociation of the R+/aromatic complex to R+ + ArD. Consequently, these products increase in importance as the internal energy is increased. The fragmentation of deuteronated aromatic carbonyl compounds can also be rationalized by similar mechanisms involving the intermediacy of ion/neutral complexes. Deuteronated acetophenone forms only CH3CO+ at all collision energies; this is both the thermochemically and entropically favoured product. However, deuteronated p-aminoacetophenone forms deuteronated aniline, the thermochemically favoured product at low collision energies with formation of CH3CO+, the entropically favoured product increasing in importance with increasing collision energy. Deuteronated benzaldehyde forms C6H5D+ +CO at low collision energies but HCO+, the entropically favoured product, is observed at higher collision energies. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.