Utilising Precursor Ion and Second-Generation Product Ion Scanning Techniques in a Four-Sector Mass Spectrometer for the Analysis of Polymer Additives

Abstract

The analysis of organic polymer additives by means of mass spectrometry (MS) has been shown to be aided by the utilisation of precursor ion and second-generation product ion (MS³) scanning experiments. These techniques have been used to determine the fragmentation pathways of these materials under high-energy conditions. A four-sector mass spectrometer was employed to generate precursor ion and MS³ spectra which indicated that the routes of dissociation for the generation of many fragment ions, observed as intense peaks in the product ion spectra, were relatively complex. Fragmentation schemes are proposed to account for the data observed in the spectra.