16.3 Interpreting a mass spectrum

Question 1

Analysing mass spectrum peaks for alcohols

Answer 1

Question 2

Examples of analysing fragmentation peaks in haloalkanes

Answer 2

Question 3

Examples of analysing fragmentation peaks in alkanes

Answer 3

Question 4

Wat is the M+1 peak

Answer 4

a smaller peak which is due to the natural abundance of the isotope C-13

Question 5

What is base peak

Answer 5

the most abundant ion

Question 6

What happens to the fragmented ions?

Answer 6

• accelerated by an electric field
• ion fragments are then separated by –>deflecting them into the detector
  most ions will only gain a 1+ charge but a greater charge can occur
• these accelerate faster and get detected first and deflect the most

Question 7

What can happen to a molecule during electron impact ionisation?

Answer 7

high energy electrons can collide with a molecule which can cause it to lose an electron
it can also result in the formation of a positively charged molecular ion with one unpaired electron
one of the electrons has been removed by the beam of electrons

this can however cause fragmentation of the molecule