Diophantine mass spectrometric structure analysis

An efficient methodology has been designed to facilitate the elucidation of chemical structures of compounds synthesized by chemists engaged in silicone research-specifically as it pertains to the analyses of mixtures of organofunctionalized Si-containing compounds. By combining electrospray MS data, IR/NMR functional group data and Diophantine mathematical analysis, one can obtain a materials balance of a particular chemical reaction without requiring difficult/time-consuming separations. This approach has been applied successfully to the analysis of F-endblocked polydiphenylsiloxanes up to 3000 Da and can be readily tailored for the structural elucidation of any organic compound. (C) 1999 American Society for Mass Spectrometry.