Theoretical Investigation of the Proton Affinity and Gas-Phase Basicity of Neutral x,y-Dihydroxybenzoic Acid and its Derivatives

Abstract

Proton affinities ( PA), gas-phase basicities ( GB) and acidities ( GA), which are some of the important physical properties of a matrix in matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry, have been calculated using density functional theory (DFT) for a number of dihydroxybenzoic (DHB) acid isomers and derivatives. The theoretical PA and gas-phase basicity ( GB) values for the neutral x,y-DHB acids, ionic radicals, Na + and K + salts as well as oxygen- and hydrogen-bridged dimers of x,y-DHB have been calculated. Analysis of the computational data indicates that there are lower PA/ GB values for the anionic dimers compared to the PA/ GB values for the electrically neutral oxygen-bridged dimers. The PA/ GB values for the neutral and radical cations are larger than the neutral monomers and the PA/ GB values for the radical anions are slightly lower than the anionic class of isomers. The PA/ GB values for the salts (x, y-DHB − Na/K + ) are significantly higher (100–150 kJ mol −1 ) than the neutral x,y-DHB acids. The above theoretical results are in agreement with experimental values obtained by Fourier transorm ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry employing a thermokinetic method. Correlation of experimentally and theoretically predicted values suggests that this theoretical calculation method could be used to derive information on different matrices.