Stereochemical differentiation of cyclic glycols by ion-molecule reactions in a quadrupole mass spectrometer using dimethyl ether acetonitrile and 2-S-pyrrolidinemethanol

In this study, ion-molecule reactions using chemical ionization in the positive ion mode using dimethyl ether, acetonitrile and 2-S-pyrrolidinemethanol as reagent gases have been used to distinguish between cis- and trans-1,2-cyclopentanediol and cis- and trans-1,2-cyclohexanediol. In the gas phase, the stereospecific ion-molecule reaction gives characteristic ions and substantial differences are observed in their relative abundances from which the diastereoisomers of those cyclic glycols can be clearly differentiated.