Mass Spectral Fragmentation Studies of Coumarin-Type Compounds Using GC High-Resolution MS

The present study was undertaken to investigate fragmentation of a set of thirteen coumarins that bear amino-, alkylamino-, alkyl-, fluoroalkyl-groups, and heterocyclic rings, in a high-resolution (>10,000) quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer equipped with an the electron ionization source and interfaced to a gas chromatograph. We have demonstrated how our data processing software is used to generate molecular formulas from high-resolution accurate mass measurements and isotope ratios, and have shown that only with a high-resolution MS can one distinguish between the loss of CO, C2H4, or CH2N. EI mass spectra are shown for all coumarins tested here, and proposed fragmentation pathways based on the high-resolution MS data are proposed for two coumarins.