A mechanistic study of the prominent loss of H2O from ionized 2-hydroxyaminoethanol

Tandem mass spectrometry experiments on the HCl salt of 2-hydroxyaminoethanol reveal that low-energy ions HOCH2CH2NHOH+ dissociate by loss of H2O with remarkable efficiency (c. 10%). Analysis of its high energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) mass spectrum leaves little doubt that the resulting m/z 59 ion is the cyclic 1,2-oxazetidine ion, whose elusive neutral counterpart has not yet been identified by experiment.A mechanistic analysis …