Parametric Sensitivity in a Generalized Model for Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Reactions

Gas phase reactions between hydrated protons H+(H2O)(n) and a substance M, as seen in atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) with mass spectrometry (MS) and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), were modeled computationally using initial amounts of [M] and [H+(H2O)(n)], rate constants k(1) to form protonated monomer (MH+(H2O)(x)) and k(2) to form proton bound dimer (M2H+(H2O)(z)), and diffusion constants. At 1 x 10(10) cm(-3) (0.4 ppb) for [H+(H2O)(n)] and vapor concentrations for M from 10 ppb to 10 ppm, a maximum signal was reached at 4.5 mu s to 4.6 ms for MH+(H2O)(x) and 7.8 mu s to 46 ms for M2H+(H2O)(z). Maximum yield for protonated monomer for a reaction time of 1 ms was similar to 40% for k(1) from 10(-11) to 10(-8) cm(3).s(-1), for k(2)/k(1) = 0.8, and specific values of [M]. This model demonstrates that ion distributions could be shifted from [M2H+(H2O)(z)] to [MH+(H2O)(x)] using excessive levels of [H+(H2O)(n)], even for [M] > 10 ppb, as commonly found in APCI MS and IMS measurements. Ion losses by collisions on surfaces were insignificant with losses of