Mass spectral study on O,O-dialkyl N,N-dialkyl phosphoramidates under electron impact conditions.

A series of O,O-dialkyl N,N-dialkyl phosphoramidates (1-25) were analyzed under GC-EIMS conditions. Clear-cut differences are found in the fragmentation of O,O-dialkyl N,N-dimethyl phosphoramidates (Series 1) and O,O-dimethyl N,N-dialkyl phosphoramidates (Series 2). The phosphoramidates comprising of mixed/crossed alkyl groups on nitrogen and oxygen (Series 3) showed mixed fragmentation pattern corresponding to both Series 1 and 2 depending on the nature of alkyl groups. All the possible isomers among the studied compounds showed distinguishable EI mass spectra. Although the major ions in the EI mass spectra for the isomers containing O-n-propyl or O-isopropyl and N,N-diethyl or N-isopropyl N-methyl are similar, the isomers could be distinguished by characteristic ions of low abundance at low mass region. The differences are prominent in the metastable ion spectra of characteristic ions.