Unimolecular dissociation of protonatedtrans-1,4-diphenyl-2-butene-1,4-dione in the gas phase: rearrangement versus simple cleavage

Fragmentation mechanisms of trans-1,4-diphenyl-2-butene-1,4-dione were studied using a variety of mass spectrometric techniques. The major fragmentation pathways occur by various rearrangements by loss of H2O, CO, H2O and CO, and CO2. The other fragmentation pathways via simple alpha cleavages were also observed but accounted for the minor dissociation channels in both a two-dimensional (2-D) linear ion trap and a quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometer. The elimination of CO2 (rather than CH3CHO or C3H8), which was confirmed by an exact mass measurement using the Q-TOF instrument, represented a major fragmentation pathway in the 2-D linear ion trap mass spectrometer. However, the elimination of H2O and CO becomes more competitive in the beam-type Q-TOF instrument. The loss of CO is observed in both the MS2 experiment of m/z 237 and the MS3 experiment of m/z 219 but via the different transition states. The data suggest that the olefinic double bond in protonated trans-1,4-diphenyl-2-butene-1,4-dione plays a key role in stabilizing the rearrangement transition states and increasing the bond dissociation (cleavage) energy to give favorable rearrangement fragmentation pathways. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.