Abstract:
The objective of this thesis was to demonstrate the
potential of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FABMS)
as a probe of condensed phase systems and its possible uses
for the study of hydrogen bonding. FABMS was used to study
three different systems. The first study was aimed at
investigating the selectivity of the ligand
tris(3,6-dioxaheptyl) amine (tdoha) for the alkali metal
cations. FABMS results correlated well with infrared and nmr
data. Systems where a crown ether competed with tdoha for a
given alkali metal cation were also investigated by fast atom
bombardment. The results were found to correlate with the
cation affinity of tdoha and the ability of the crown ether to
bind the cation.
In the second and third studies, H-bonded systems
were investigated. The imidazole-electron donor complexes
were investigated and FABMS results showed the expected H-bond
strength of the respective complexes. The effects of
concentration, liquid matrix, water content, deuterium
exchange, and pre-ionization of the complex were also
investigated. In the third system investigated, the abundance
of the diphenyl sulfone-ammonium salt complexes (presumably
H-bonded) in the FABMS spectrum were found to correlate
with qualitative considerations such as steric hindrance and
strength of ion pairs.
