New insights into the reaction mechanisms of Phenylium ions with Benzene

The chemistry of phenylium (benzen-1-ylium) cations with benzene is investigated by using a guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer. The main ionic products from the reaction of C6H5+ with C6H6 are observed at m/z 155 (covalent adduct C12H11+), 154 (C12H10+), 153 (C12H9+), 129 (C10H9+), and 115 (C9H7+). We propose a mechanism according to which channels at m/z 154-115 are formed by elimination of stable neutral molecules (such as H2, C2H2, C3H4) from the collision complex C12H11+, for which the most plausible structure is protonated biphenyl. The proposed mechanism is demonstrated by using partial isotopical labeling of reagents to look for possible H/D atom scrambling. Almost the same ions are produced when benzene is chemically ionized at atmospheric pressure in an APCI source from which oxygen is excluded. Because an ion trap analyzer is coupled to this source, tandem MS experiments can be performed, allowing structural details to be established. Moreover, the use of partially deuterated reagents has allowed the detection of minor reactive channels resulting from charge exchange and H-/D- hydride-transfer processes. Theoretical calculations show that the most stable structure for ions at m/z 129 C10H9+ is that of protonated naphthalene, resulting from the loss of an acetylene molecule by the condensation product, with a reaction exothermicity of 1.27 eV. We have found a possible barrierless pathway for such a channel that might be viable for the synthesis of naphthalene, the smallest PAH, even at low collision energies and therefore would be of particular astrochemical relevance.