Gjc. Paul et al., INVESTIGATION OF THE CLUSTERING PROCESSES OCCURRING IN LIQUID SECONDARY-ION MASS-SPECTROMETRY FOR ALKYL QUATERNARY AMMONIUM BROMIDES, Journal of mass spectrometry., 31(1), 1996, pp. 95-100
Upon investigation of the clustering behavior of a series of alkyl qua
ternary ammonium bromides (MBr) in liquid secondary ion mass spectrome
try (LSIMS), only the dimer ion, M(2)Br(+), was of significant abundan
ce in the resultant mass spectra. The ion abundance of the dimer grows
relative to that of the molecular ion, M(+), with increasing analyte
concentration in LSIMS until a concentration is reached where the ion
abundance ratio M(2)Br(+)/M(+) remains constant upon subsequent analyt
e addition, The relationship between the M(2)Br(+)/M(+) ion abundance
ratio and analyte concentration can be explained in terms of the solut
ion equilibrium between these species, where the plateau region of the
plot corresponds to the presence of an analyte monolayer at the liqui
d surface. The M(2)Br(+)/M(+) values obtained in this region provide r
elative dimer bond strengths for the alkyl quaternary ammonium salts,
so the effect of different substituents on dimer stability can be asse
ssed. Using this method, the importance of the electrostatic interacti
on on the dimer strength and the destabilizing effect of the hydrophob
ic interaction between long alkyl chains is revealed.