Fragmentation Pathways and Enhanced Detection Sensitivity of OH-PBDEs via LC-ESI-MS ² : A Comprehensive Analytical Investigation

fragmentation of these derivatives was conveniently dominated by the cleavage of the C-S bond within the dansyl group, yielding abundant diagnostic ions that greatly aided in structural confirmation. As predicted, the derivatization strategy achieved a remarkable up to 15-fold improvement in the sensitivity. This investigation advances the understanding of OH-PBDE fragmentation, establishes an identification framework using specific patterns and diagnostic ions, and demonstrates a practical derivatization approach for enhanced sensitivity, elucidating structure-fragmentation relationships in brominated aromatics and providing methodological guidance for future analysis.