Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of tribenzyltin substituted-phenoxyacetate compounds.

Hydrolysis products of organotin compounds RC(6)H(4)OCH(2)COOSn(CH(2)ph)(3) (R = o-NO(2), 1; m-NO(2), 2; p-NO(2), 3; o-CH(3), 4; o-OCH(3), 5; o-Cl, 6; o-Br, 7) and RC(6)H(3)OCH(2)COOSn(CH(2)ph)(3) (R = o,o-2CH(3), 8, o-OCH(3), p-CHO, 9; o,p-2Cl, 10), produced in aqueous acetonitrile solution, have been investigated by electrospray mass spectrometry (MS) and MS(n) techniques. The complexes Y(2)SnXR', Y(3)SnXR', Y(3)SnX(2)R', Y(2)SnX(3)R', and fragment ions of Y(3)SnR', plus abundant RC(6)H(4)(or RC(6)H(3))OCH(2)COO(-) and RC(6)H(4)(or RC(6)H(3))O(-) ions are observed in negative mode, whereas the protonated molecular ion M + H, complexes Y(2)SnXR', Y(3)SnXR', Y(2)SnX(2)R', Y(3)SnX(2)R', Y(2)SnX(3)R', Y(3)SnX(3)R', as well as YSnXR', M - CH(2)ph, XSn(+), (phCH(2))(3)Sn(+), phCH(2)Sn(+) (Y = &bond;CH(2)ph, X = &bond;OOCCH(2)OC(6)H(4)R(or C(6)H(3)R)) are detected in the positive mode. Water adduct ions are seen in both modes. The assignments are facilitated by agreement between observed and calculated isotopic patterns and tandem mass spectrometry studies.