Fragmentations and Proton Transfer Reactions of Product Ions Formed from Mono-, Di-, and Triethanolamines

Fragmentations and proton transfer reactions of mono-, di-, and triethanolamines were studied using FTMS. It was found that the most abundant fragment ion was $[M-CH_2OH]^+$. The $[M-CH_2OH-H_2O]^+$ was observed in the mass spectra of diethanolamine and triethanolamine. By increasing the ion trapping time in the ICR cell, the $[M+H]^+$ and $[M+H-H_2O]^+$ ions were notably increased for all the samples while the $[M+H-2H_2O]^+$ was observed in the mass spectra of diethanolamine and triethanolamine. The proton transfer reactions between the fragment ions and neutral molecules occurred predominantly by increasing the ion trapping time. The rate constants for the proton transfer reactions were calculated from experimental results. The proton transfer reaction of $CHO^+$ was the fastest one, which is consistent with the heats of reaction. The rate constants for proton transfer reactions of triethanolamine were much slower than those of ethanolamine and diethanolamine because of the steric hindered structure of triethanolamine. The plausible structures of observed ions and heats of reaction for proton transfer were calculated with AM1 semiempirical method.