Patent ID: 8377704

Claim:
A method of quantifying the amount of one or more anions, Y, in a sample, the method comprising: (a) combining a compound of formula (I): wherein: R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , R 9 , R 10 are independently chosen from: H, —(C 1 -C 10 )alkyl, —(C 1 -C 10 )haloalkyl, (C 2 -C 10 )alkenyl, (C 2 -C 10 )alkynyl, —O—(C 1 -C 10 )alkyl, halogen, —C═O—O—(C 1 -C 10 )alkyl, aryl, and heteroaryl, or a linking group that is bound either covalently or noncovalently to a solid support; and X is a weakly coordinating anion; with a sample comprising one or more anions, Y, in a solvent, to prepare a compound of formula (II): (b) decomposing the compound of formula (II) to form an aromatic compound of formula (III) and/or (IV): (c) analyzing the sample using mass spectroscopy to quantify the amount of the compound of formula (III) and/or (IV), thereby quantifying the amount of anion Y.