A study of the collision-induced dissociation of C 2H 5OH 2+ using various target gases

Abstract

A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to study the collision-induced dissociation of C 2H 5OH 2 + using Ar, Kr, N 2, CH 4, C 2H 6 and C 3H 8 as target gases. The principal fragments were m/z = 29, 27 and 19. Approximate cross-sections were determined for each decomposition pathway. The products were examined as a function of collision energy up to 75 eV. Threshold energies in the centre-of-mass system were in reasonable agreement with thermochemical values. An extensive survey was made of the fragment ion energy distributions. The m/z = 29 and 19 fragments, which are easily formed, had relatively narrow distributions which also indicated small scattering angles. At the lower collision energies, the m/z = 29 ion, which has a higher threshold for its formation, had a very broad distribution indicating a wide range of scattering angles. For the m/z = 29 and 19 fragments, polyatomic targets gave consistently lower fragment energies than the rare gases. The data also suggest an inverse correlation between scattering angle and collision energy.