Mass Spectrometry and Ion Mobility Study of Poly (ethylene glycol)-based Polyurethane Oligomers.

Rationale Commercial-grade polymer synthesis is performed via melt polymerization, which leads to polydispersion. The work herein provides a synthetic strategy to produce mono-dispersive polyurethane oligomers and an analytical strategy to distinguish these oligomers, providing chemists with the tools necessary to synthesize and identify specific polymer structures that exhibit a desired property. Methods Three isomeric poly (ethylene glycol)-polyurethane (PEG-PUR) oligomers were synthesized and analyzed via flow-injection ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS). Each polymer oligomer was injected and run independently via flow injection at 100 μL•min-1 and analyzed in positive ion mode on a drift tube-QTOF instrument. Mobility measurements were determined using a single-field approach. For tandem MS experiments, the sodium adducted singly-charged precursor ion was isolated in the quadrupole and subjected to a range of collision energies. RESULTS: In MS experiments, both +1 and +2 sodium adducted species were observed for each oligomer at m/z 837.4 and m/z 430.2, respectively. When isolated and fragmented via MS/MS, the +1 precursor yielded distinct fragment ions for each of the three isomeric oligomers. Fragmentation generally occurred at urethane linkages via 1,3- and 1,5-H shift mechanisms. IM was also used to distinguish the three isomers, with greater IM separation observed for the +2 versus the +1 species. Conclusion Mono-disperse PEG-PUR oligomers were synthesized and analyzed. Although the polymeric oligomers analyzed in this study are quite small and structurally simple, this work serves as a model system for the synthesis and structural characterization of larger, more complex block copolymers.

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