A Photoreactor-Interfaced Mass Spectrometer: An Online Platform to Monitor Photochemical Reactions

Anal Chem. 2023 Oct 24;95(42):15472-15476. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c03294. Epub 2023 Oct 13.

Abstract

An experimental platform is reported that allows for the online characterization of photochemical reactions by coupling a continuous flow photoreactor, equipped with LED light irradiation and a dual-tipped ESI source, directly to a mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization. The capabilities of this platform are demonstrated with two classes of photoreactions: (1) the photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate and (2) photocatalyzed alkyne insertion into a 1,2,3-benzotriazinone. The online technique provides rapid information to inform the underlying photochemical mechanism and evaluate the overall photochemistry.