Abstract
The unimolecular metastable decomposition mechanism of several organic compounds, which have small molecular weights, was investigated in this study by means of mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy (MIKE) spectrometry, D-labeling technique and molecular orbital (MO) calculations. Accurate mass determination is also described by using a multiple sprayers Nano-ESI arrangement on a double-focusing magnetic sector instrument in this thesis. For example, ‘Unimolecuar HCl Loss from the Molecular Ions of Chlorophenols, a “Ring-walk” Mechanism for a Chlorine Atom’ is described in this abstract. The loss of hydrogen chloride (HCl) is one of the main fragmentation processes in the molecular of o, m-, and p-chlorophenols in the metastable time window. By investigation of D-labeled compounds, it could be established that the eliminated HCl molecule contains only the hydroxyl hydrogen atom, not other benzene ring hydrogen atoms. This process is rationalized by the so-called “ring-walk” mechanism for a chlorine atom.
