Fragmentation pathways of some benzothiophene radical cations formed by atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation

Polycyclic aromatic sulfur\u2010containing compounds (PASHs) are commonly found in fossil fuels and are of considerable importance in environmental studies. This work presents detailed studies on the fragmentation patterns of radical cations formed from four representative PASHs, benzo[b]thiophene, dibenzothiophene, 4\u2010methyldibenzothiophene and 4,6\u2010dimethyldibenzothiophene, using tandem atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI\u2010MS/MS). Understanding these fragmentation patterns can be a useful aid in the analysis of PASHs employing APCI or electron ionization (EI\u2010MS/MS), either alone or in conjunction with liquid or gas chromatography.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: N