Detection of intermediates for the Eschweiler-Clarke reaction by liquid-phase reactive desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) has been developed dramatically as a powerful tool for the rapid analysis of samples in their native environment. Here a novel application of DESI-MS was demonstrated for direct probing of the reactive intermediates in the liquid-phase Eschweiler-Clarke reaction, a reductive amination reaction whereby a primary (or secondary) amine is successively N-methylated using excess formaldehyde and formic acid. The intermediates ion species of sodiated amino alcohol ([I + Na](+)) and iminium ([II](+)), along with the corresponding protonated molecules of amine reactant ([M + H](+)) and end product ([III + H](+)), were simultaneously and unambiguously characterized by the positive ion DESI-MS in the native liquid-phase reactive condition. The operating variables were optimized for better analytical performance including the spray solvent composition (such as formic acid concentration, proportion of methanol-water), voltage applied, spray spatial distance and incident angle. The feasibility of the reactive DESI-MS detection of acid-formaldehyde methylations was further validated using amines of a large variety of chemical types (2 primary and 3 secondary amines). Thus, the liquid-phase reactive DESI-MS technique allows the direct analysis of reaction intermediates occurring in complex liquid solutions without sample preparation to provide a valuable insight into chemical reaction mechanisms.