In this work we report the stereo-dependent collision-induced dissociation (CID) of proton-bound complexes of tryptophan and 2-butanol. The dissociation efficiency was measured as a function of collision energy in single collision mode. The homochiral complex was found to be less stable against CID than a heterochiral one. Additional gas dependence measurements were performed with diastereomeric complexes that confirm the findings.

We report on studies of collisions between 3 keV Ar+ projectile ions and neutral targets of isolated 1,3-butadiene (C4H6) molecules and cold, loosely bound clusters of these molecules. We identify molecular growth processes within the molecular clusters that appears to be driven by knockout processes and that could result in the formation of (aromatic) ring structures. These types of reactions are not unique to specific projectile ions and target molecules, but will occur whenever atoms or ions with suitable masses and kinetic energies collide with aggregates of matter, such as carbonaceous grains in the interstellar medium or aerosol nanoparticles in the atmosphere.

Valeric acid is an important renewable platform chemical that can be produced efficiently from lignocellulosic biomass. Upgrading of valeric acid by catalytic pyrolysis has the potential to produce value added biofuels and chemicals on an industrial scale. Understanding the different mechanisms involved in the thermal transformations of valeric acid on the surface of nanometer-sized oxides is important for the development of efficient heterogeneously catalyzed pyrolytic conversion techniques. In this work, the thermal decomposition of valeric acid on the surface of nanoscale SiO2, gamma-Al2O3, CeO2/SiO2, Al2O3/SiO2 and TiO2/SiO2 has been investigated by temperature-programmed desorption mass spectrometry (TPD MS). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has also been used to investigate the structure of valeric acid complexes on the oxide surfaces. Two main products of pyrolytic conversion were observed to be formed depending on the nano-catalyst used-dibutylketone and propylketene. Mechanisms of ketene and ketone formation from chemisorbed fragments of valeric acid are proposed and the kinetic parameters of the corresponding reactions were calculated. It was found that the activation energy of ketenization decreases in the order SiO2 > gamma-Al2O3 > TiO2/SiO2 > Al2O3/SiO2, and the activation energy of ketonization decreases in the order gamma-Al2O3 > CeO2/SiO2. Nanooxide CeO2/SiO2 was found to selectively catalyze the ketonization reaction.

Here we report on the gas-phase interactions between protonated enantiopure amino acids (l- and d-enantiomers of Met, Phe, and Trp) and chiral target gases [(R)- and (S)-2-butanol, and (S)-1-phenylethanol] in 0.1-10.0 eV low-energy collisions. Two major processes are seen to occur over this collision energy regime, collision-induced dissociation and ion-molecule complex formation. Both processes were found to be independent of the stereo-chemical composition of the interacting ions and targets. These data shed light on the currently debated mechanisms of gas-phase chiral selectivity by demonstrating the inapplicability of the three-point model to these interactions, at least under single collision conditions.

Temperature-programmed desorption mass spectrometry (TPDMS) was used to study the pyrolysis of PDMS and its composites with nanosized silica and ceria/silica. The results suggest that the elusive organosilicon compound, dimethylsilanone, is generated from PDMS over a broad temperature range (in some cases starting at 70 degrees C). The presence of nano-oxides catalyzes this process. Ions characteristic of the fragmentation of dimethylsilanone under electron ionization are assigned with the aid of DFT structure calculations. Possible reaction mechanisms for dimethylsilanone generation are discussed in the context of the calculated kinetic parameters. Observed accompanying products of PDMS pyrolysis, such as tetramethylcyclodisiloxane and hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane, indicate that multiple channels are involved in the dimethylsilanone release.

This work deals with effects of polymer molecular W-m, below the entanglement threshold W-m,W-e, on molecular dynamics of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) adsorbed onto silica particles, employing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and two dielectric techniques: broadband depolarization currents (TSDC). The rigid amorphous dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and thermally stimulated polymer fraction at interfaces, RAF(int), was found suppressed for larger W-m by all techniques in qualitative agreement with each other. Results on RAF(int) were supported by evaluating, for the first time, the coverage of hydroxyls at the surfaces of nanoparticles by polymer chains (S relaxation). The mobility of interfacial polymer (alpha(int) relaxation) was followed by BDS and TSDC, showing suppression of dynamics and cooperativity with decreasing W-m. We suggest that interfacial polymer fraction and dynamics are dominated by the concentration of polymer-particle contact points, the latter increasing for smaller W-m due to more free chain ends, as expected below W-m,W-e. Furthermore, adopting models that describe multiple conformations for polymers adsorbed on solid surfaces, we explain our results in terms of promotion of tail/loop-like conformations in the particle-polymer interfacial layer for shorter/longer polymer chains, respectively. The model was further checked by employing surface modification of initial silica, which resulted in smoothening of nanoparticle surface and led to further suppression of RAF(int) and interfacial polymer dynamics.

Compositions of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer with nanosized silica and ceria/silica were prepared. The influence of these nano-fillers on the thermal stability and degradation mechanism of silicone polymer was investigated using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Temperature Programmed Desorption Mass Spectrometry (TPD MS). The results showed that thermal decomposition of pure and adsorbed PDMS differs significantly. The three main stages of the PDMS thermal transformations in the adsorbed state were determined to be: 1) chemisorption of PDMS chains involving the terminal trimethylsilyl groups of the polymer and silanol groups of the silica surface; 2) formation and desorption of cyclic oligomers; 3) high temperature radical degradation of the polymer accompanied by the formation of methane and ethylene. The kinetic parameters of the corresponding reactions were calculated from the TPD MS data. It was found that nanoparticles of cerium dioxide strongly influence the degradation pattern, lower the decomposition temperature and catalyze the formation of methane.

We have studied the fragmentation of the singly protonated L- and D-forms of enantiomerically pure phenylalanine (Phe), tryptophan (Trp), and methionine (Met) in high-energy collisions with chiral and achiral gas targets. (S)-(+)-2-butanol, racemic (+/-)-2-butanol, and argon were used as target gases. At center-of-mass frame collision energy of I key, it was found that all of the ions exhibit common fragmentation pathways which are independent of target chirality. For all projectile ions, the elimination of NH3 and H2O + CO were found to be the main reaction channels. The observed fragmentation patterns were dominated by statistically driven processes. The energy deposited into the ions was found to be sufficient to yield multiple fragment ions, which arise from decomposition via various competitive reaction pathways.

We report experimental total, absolute, fragmentation cross sections for anthracene C14H10, acridine C13H9N, and phenazine C12H8N2 ions colliding with He at center-of-mass energies close to 100 eV. In addition, we report results for the same ions colliding with Ne, Ar, and Xe at higher energies. The total fragmentation cross sections for these three ions are the same within error bars for a given target. The measured fragment mass distributions reveal significant contributions from both delayed (>> 10(-12) s) statistical fragmentation processes as well as non-statistical, prompt (similar to 10(-15) s), single atom knockout processes. The latter dominate and are often followed by secondary statistical fragmentation. Classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations yield separate cross sections for prompt and delayed fragmentation which are consistent with the experimental results. The intensity of the single C/N-loss peak, the signature of non-statistical fragmentation, decreases with the number of N atoms in the parent ion. The fragment intensity distributions for losses of more than one C or N atom are rather similar for C14H10 and C13H9N but differ strongly for C12H8N2 where weak C-N bonds often remain in the fragments after the first fragmentation step. This greatly increases their probability to fragment further. Distributions of internal energy remaining in the fragments after knockout are obtained from the MD simulations.

We present experimental evidence for the dominance of prompt single-atom knockout in fragmenting collisions between large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon cations and He atoms at center-of-mass energies close to 100 eV. Such nonstatistical processes are shown to give highly reactive fragments. We argue that nonstatistical fragmentation is dominant for any sufficiently large molecular system under similar conditions.