Optimization and Application of APCI Hydrogen–Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry (HDX MS) for the Speciation of Nitrogen Compounds

A systematic study was performed to investigate the utility of atmospheric pressure chemical ionization hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (APCI HDX MS) to identify the structures of nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds. First, experiments were performed to determine the optimized experimental conditions, with dichloromethane and CH 3 OD found to be good cosolvents for APCI HDX. In addition, a positive correlation between the heated capillary temperature and the observed HDX signal was observed, and it was suggested that the HDX reaction occurred when molecules were contained in the solvent cluster. Second, 20 standard nitrogen-containing compounds were analyzed to investigate whether speciation could be determined based on the different types of ions produced from nitrogen-containing compounds with various functional groups. The number of exchanges occurring within the compounds correlated well with the number of active hydrogen atoms attached to nitrogen, and it was confirmed that APCI HDX MS could be used to determine speciation. The results obtained by APCI HDX MS were combined with the subsequent investigation of the double bond equivalence distribution and indicated that resins of shale oil extract contained mostly pyridine type nitrogen compounds. This study confirmed that APCI HDX MS can be added to previously reported chemical ionization, electrospray ionization, and atmospheric pressure photo ionization-based HDX methods, which can be used for structural elucidation by mass spectrometry. Graphical Abstract ᅟ