The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of ion trap mass spectrometry (ITMS) in combination with the two desorption/ionization methods, electrospray (ESI) and atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (AP-MALDI), for the detection of antioxidants which are applied in lubricants. These experiments should form the base for future investigations of antioxidants in tribologically formed thin layers on the surface of frictional systems. Seventeen different antioxidants were selected out of the group of hindered phenolic and aromatic aminic compounds. Practically all antioxidants could be characterized by positive ion ESI- and AP-MALDI-ITMS, forming various types/species of molecular ions (e.g. [M]+*, [M+H]+, [M+Na]+ or [M-2H+H]+). A few compounds could be analyzed by negative ion ESI-MS, too, but none by negative ion AP-MALDI-MS. The influence of target materials in AP-MALDI-MS (gold- and titanium nitride (TiN)-covered stainless steel, micro-diamond-covered hard metal, hand-polished and sand-blasted stainless steel targets) with respect to the molecular ion intensity and type of molecular ion of two selected antioxidants was evaluated. The surface properties are of particular interest because in friction tests different materials with different surface characteristics are used. However, the MS results indicate that optimal target surfaces have to be found for individual antioxidants in AP-MALDI-MS but in general smooth surfaces were superior to rough surfaces. Finally the gold-covered stainless steel MALDI target provided the best mass spectra and was selected for all the antioxidants investigated.

The combined methods allow qualitative and quantitative determination of a wide variety of different antioxidants including aminic/phenolic compounds applied in lubricant engineering. These data show that the developed methods will be versatile tools for further research on identification and characterization of the thermo-oxidative degradation products of antioxidants in lubricants.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the fragmentation behavior induced by low-energy collision-induced dissociation (LE-CID) of four selected antioxidants applied in lubricants, by two different types of ion trap mass spectrometers: a three-dimensional ion trap (3D-IT) and a linear IT (LIT) Orbitrap MS. Two sterically hindered phenols and two aromatic amines were selected as model compounds representing different antioxidant classes and were characterized by positive-ion electrospray ionization (ESI) and LE-CID. Various types of molecular ions (e.g. [M](+•) , [M + H](+) , [M + NH(4) ](+) or [M + Na](+) ) were used as precursor ions generating a significant number of structurally relevant product ions. Furthermore, the phenolic compounds were analyzed by negative-ion ESI. For both IT types applied for fragmentation, the antioxidants exhibited the same unusual LE-CID behavior: (1) they formed stable radical product ions and (2) CC bond cleavages of aliphatic substituents were observed and their respective cleavage sites depended on the precursor ion selected. This fragmentation provided information on the type of structural isomer usually not obtainable for branched aliphatic substituents utilizing LE-CID. Comparing the two instruments, the main benefit of applying the LIT-Orbitrap was direct access to elemental composition of product ions enabling unambiguous interpretation of fragmentation trees not obtainable by the 3D-IT device (e.g. loss of isobaric neutrals). It should be emphasized that the types of product ions formed do not depend on the type of IT analyzer applied. For characterizing degradation products of antioxidants, the LIT-Orbitrap hybrid system, allowing the determination of accurate m/z values for product ions, is the method of choice.