Discrimination and quantitation of halobenzoic acid positional isomers upon Th(iv) coordination by mass spectrometry

Abstract

A fast and reliable mass spectrometry-based method has been developed to discriminate the positional isomers of o-, m- and p-C₆H₄XCO₂H (X = F, Cl and Br). This is based on the distinct fragmentation patterns of isomeric ThCl₄(C₆H₄XCO₂)⁻ ions generated by electrospray ionization of the solutions with C₆H₄XCO₂H isomers and ThCl₄. Moreover, the composition of these positional isomers can be conveniently quantified without any pre-treatment according to the proportion of gas-phase fragmentation products.