Ion-molecule reactions of dimethyl ether cations with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a quadrupole ion trap trap spectrometer

The reaction chemistry between dimethyl ether (DME) cations and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was elucidated by isolating three different ty pes of DME ions using a quadrupole ion trap and reacting them individually with neutral PAR molecules eluting from a gas chromatographic column. The r esults obtained show that the CH2OCH3+ ion (m/z 45) reacts via adduct forma tion followed by elimination of CH3OH, the (CH3)(2)OH+ (m/z 47) ion serves as proton donor and the (CH3)(3)O+ ion (m/z 61) does not yield any reaction products. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.