Hard ionisation formation

Interpretation of mass spectra depends on the type of mass spectrometer and ionisation technique used. Hard ionisation methods such as El produce molecular ion fragmentation, which can be used to identify diagnostic fragmentation patterns and functional groups. Softer ionisation techniques such as ESI and MALDI provide pseudomolecular ion formation, and rules in accordance with spectral information can be used to identify corresponding molecular structure and elemental composition. Table 13.3 lists some of the types of information that can be provided by mass spectrometry, and Table 13.4 gives dehnitions of molecular masses that are highly relevant in mass spectrometry. 

Hard ionisation techniques commonly fragment molecular ions, leading to the loss of neutral species and the formation of fragmentation ions. Some common species lost in mass spectra, and possible chemical inferences that can be drawn from this information, are shown in Table 13.10. In contrast, examples of common fragment ions that are formed are listed in Table 13.11. 

The activation volumina for the solutions at the lower polarity are lacking because in this region the relaxation time is predominantly determined by triple-ion formation even at the lowest TBAP concentration measurable with the field modulation technique. If the ionisation equilibrium is treated as the association-dissociation of hard, charged, spheres subjected to Brownian motion in a continuous medium of dielectric constant D and viscosity n it is possible to give theoretical expressions for and k ... 

---