Isomer Differentiation of Explosives-related Compounds and Clarification of the 30 Da Releases from TNT using Electrospray High-Resolution Multistage Mass Spectrometry

摘要

This new finding was established by accurate mass measurements at high resolution performed in an LTQ-Orbitrap XL giving new insight into the dissociation of deprotonated TNT. Notably, 2,6-DNT gave mainly the fragment ion at m/z 151 by an unexpected first loss of CH_2O instead of the usual isobaric NO·. By contrast, 2,4-DNT gave m/z 116 by consecutive losses of NO·, H_2O, and OH·. On the other hand, 2A-4,6-DNT yielded consecutive losses of two NO· neutrals whereas its isomer, 4A-2,6-DNT, underwent consecutive losses of NO· and OH·. Detailed MS~n characterization of explosives has thus served to enable differentiation of each isomer, and clarify a previously ambiguous decomposition pathway.