Chemical ionization mass spectrometry of doxylamine and related compounds

The chemical ionization mass spectrometric (CIMS) analysis of doxylamine, N,N-dimethyl-2-[1-phenyl-1-(2-pyridinyl)ethoxy]ethanamine, and related compounds, using both ammonia and methane as reagent gases, is discussed. The two reagent gases did not produce the same major fragment ion for doxylamine. Mechanisms for the fragmentation of doxylamine under either ammonia or methane CIMS conditions are proposed. The mechanisms explain the observation of an m/z 182 fragment ion for doxylamine analyzed under methane CIMS conditions and an m/z 184 product ion detected under ammonia CIMS conditions.