Energy-dependent collision-induced dissociation of lithiated polytetrahydrofuran: effect of the size on the fragmentation properties

The fragmentation properties of singly and doubly lithiated polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) were studied using energy-dependent collision-induced dissociation. The product ion spectrum of [PTHF + Li](+) showed the formation of three different series corresponding to product ions with hydroxyl, aldehyde and vinyl end-groups. Interestingly, besides these series, two additional, non-lithiated product ions C(4)H(9)O(+) and C(4)H(7)(+) were identified in the MS/MS spectra. The MS/MS of the doubly lithiated PTHF ([PTHF + 2Li](2+)) with a number of repeat units ranging from 8 to 27 showed the formation of product ions similar to those of the singly lithiated series, however, doubly lithiated product ions and product ions formed by the loss of one Li(+)-ion from the precursor ion also appeared with significant abundances. Analysis of the breakdown curves for the singly and doubly charged PTHF indicated that the series A ions are formed most probably together with the series B ions, while members of the series C ions appeared at significantly higher collision energies. The fragmentation properties of [PTHF + Li](+) and [PTHF + 2Li](2+) were also interpreted using the survival yield method. It was found that the collision energy/voltage necessary to obtain 50% fragmentation (CV(50)) was dependent linearly on the number of the repeat units, i.e., on the size, or the number of degrees of freedom (DOF).