Characterization of 5-Ethoxycarbonyl-4-substituted-6-methyl-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones Using EI-TOF Mass Spectrometry

The electron ionization time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectra of a series of 5-ethoxycarbonyl-4-substituted-6-methyl-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones were studied to establish their fragmentation processes. Using the high resolution capabilities of the TOF instrument, exact masses for each fragment were determined. These data were used to infer molecular formulas and elemental compositions for all molecular ions and fragments through software interpretation and according to the established fragmentation rules the majority of ions were fully assigned. Two main fragmentation routes can be found in this work. First of them, for all the title compounds, includes the formation of three cations, by loss of R1 from the position 4, C2H4 (via a McLafferty rearrangement) from the ester group and H2O via a cyclic-six-membered transition state. The second route, for 4-aromatic compounds, consists of the formation of a cation by loss of EtCO2. Several additional fragmentations for individual compounds are proposed.