Proton affinity and collision-induced decomposition of ethoxylated alcohols: effects of intramolecular hydrogen bonding on polymer ion collision-induced decomposition

Abstract

Collision-induced decomposition and ion/molecule reactions of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and ethoxylated alcohols (EA) are investigated using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) techniques. Self chemical ionization of PEG-1000, PEG-400, and EAs produces protonatedparent molecules. The protonated parent ions will transfer a proton efficiently to other PEG or EA molecules. The alkali metal adducts of PEG produced by laser desorption transfer the alkali metal ion to other PEG molecules. The CID spectrum of a typical protonated ethoxylated alcohol ((C 12 H 25 (OC 2 H 4 ) 4 OH)H + ) is found to be dominated by cleavage of only three of its 15 C-O bonds