Spectroscopy of carbendazim in the UV region by resonant multiphoton ionisation

The spectroscopic characterisation of carbendazim (methyl 2-benzimidazolecarbamate) has been carried out by combining laser desorption (LD) with resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) followed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) detection. After optimization of the experimental conditions, the REMPI spectrum of carbendazim was obtained in the region between 280 and 283 nm, with the (0,0) band and Δv=0 sequence structure at 281.1±0.2 nm. The spectrum exhibits a sequence of peaks separated by approximately 69 cm−1, consistent with the presence of a low-energy vibration in the ground electronic state. This result is of value in facilitating the development of a direct and sensitive analytical method for the determination of carbendazim in a given sample by LD–REMPI–TOFMS.