Rapid synthesis of phosphenium cations and detection of organic molecules in the gas phase

The article provides a method to synthesize phosphonium cations in the gas phase, and detect organic molecules by ion-molecule reactions. The active diphenylphosphonium cations were generated from the collision induced dissociation of methyltriphenylphosphonium cations by tandem mass spectrometry. There were 10 different kinds of molecules selected to make ion-molecule reaction with diphenylphosphonium cations, including acetonitrile, formic acid, acrylonitrile, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, n -butanol, t -butanol, triethylamine, benzene, and styrene. The detection of these 10 kinds of molecules and the resolution of a pair of isomeric compounds n -butanol and t -butanol were both achieved. By adjusting the flow rate of molecules in a certain reaction time, different abundance of product peaks will be obtained. The quantitative analysis of molecules can be completed by making standard curves. This method is simple and convenient. It also offers an approach to make research of the gas phase reactivity of phosphonium cations.