Determination of the Block Sequence of Linear Triblock Copolyethers Using Thermal Desorption/Pyrolysis Direct Analysis in Real-Time Mass Spectrometry

The determination of the block sequence of triblock copolymers is difficult without information on the synthetic conditions, such as starting materials and reagents used or analysis using tandem mass spectrometry. In this study, we demonstrate a convenient technique to determine the block sequence of linear triblock copolyethers using direct analysis in real-time mass spectrometry (DART MS) and thermal desorption/pyrolysis (TDP)/DART single stage MS. The resulting DART mass spectra relatively emphasized the repeated structure of the outer sequence of the triblock copolymer. Extracted ion curves obtained from TDP/DART MS indicated critical information regarding the sequence of the triblock copolymers as the difference in time dependence of each component.