Characterization of additives in plastics: From MS to MS10 multistep mass analysis and theoretical calculations of tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate

In the analysis by electrospray (+) of an extract of hemp sprouts put in a polypropylene vial, we found a large contamination of a plastic additive. It was characterized by multiple-stage MSn experiments (MS ÷ MS10) and identified as tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate, also known with the synonyms F32IRS6B46, oxidized Naugard 524, and others. The MS2 ÷ MS7 spectra are characterized by consecutive eliminations of six isobutene molecules from the tert-butyl moieties, some of them also occurring in the ion source. The first three are calculated to occur preferentially from the ortho positions, whereas eliminations from the para positions are estimated to be less favored at about 5–6 kcal/mol in each step. Once the first three isobutene molecules are eliminated, the remaining three are lost from the tert-butyl moieties in para positions (MS5 ÷ MS7), yielding protonated triphenylphosphate, whose structure has been confirmed by the MS2 spectrum of triphenylphosphate standard: the latter spectrum is almost superimposable with the MS8 spectrum of the analyte under investigation. MS8 and MS9 spectra show main losses of water and C6H4 molecules. The MS10 spectrum of precursor ions at m/z 215 shows the gas-phase addition of water and methanol and ions at m/z 168, attributable to the loss of a phosphorus oxide radical. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations (Becke 3LYP [B3LYP] 6-311+G(2d,2p)) have been used to evaluate structure and stability of different ionic and neutral species involved in the decomposition pathways and to calculate thermochemical data of the decomposition reactions. This multistep mass analysis combined with theoretical calculations resulted to be particularly useful and effective, yielding chemical, thermochemical, and mechanistic data of significant utility in the structural characterization and identification of the unknown analyte as well as to define its gas-phase reactivity under a multistep low-energy collision-induced dissociation regime.