Determination of ion and neutral loss compositions and deconvolution of product ion mass spectra using an orthogonal acceleration time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer and an ion correlation program

Abstract

Exact masses of monoisotopic ions, and the relative isotopic abundances (RIAs) of ions greater in mass by 1 and 2 Da than the monoisotopic ion, are independent and complementary physical properties useful for distinguishing among elemental compositions of ions possible for a given nominal mass. Using these properties to determine elemental compositions of product ions and neutral losses increases the masses of precursor ions for which unique compositions can be determined. Compositions of the precursor ion, product ion, and neutral loss aid mass spectral interpretation and guide modest chemical literature searches for candidate standards to be obtained for confirmation of tentative compound identifications. This approach is essential for compound characterization or identification due to the absence of commercial libraries of electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) product ion spectra. For a series of 34 exact mass measurements, an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer provided 34 and 29 values accurate to within 2 and 1 mDa, respectively, for ions from eight simulated unknowns with [M+H](+) ion masses between 166 and 319 Da. Of 36 RIA measurements for +1 Da or +2 Da ions, 35 were accurate to within 20% of their predicted values (or to within 0.4 RIA % when the RIA value was less than 1%) in the absence of obvious interferences, in cases where the monoisotopic ion peak areas were at least 1.7 x 10(5) counts and the ion masses exceeded 141 Da. An ion correlation program (ICP) provided the unique and correct compositions for all but three of the 34 ions studied. Manual inspection of the data eliminated the incorrect compositions. To test the utility of the ICP for deconvoluting composite product ion spectra, all 34 ions were tested for correlation. Six of eight precursor ions were identified as such, while two were compositional subsets of others and were not properly identified. The six precursor ion compositions were still found by the ICP even though ions with masses less than 158 Da were not considered since they could no longer be correlated with a single precursor ion. Finally, two unidentified analytes were characterized, based on data published by others and using the ICP together with mass spectral interpretation.