Abstract
AbstractMass spectrometry is not usually considered a satisfactory tool for examining polymers, since polymers usually decompose before vaporizing. However, if low molecular weight oligomers are present in the polymer or if they are formed under the conditions prevailing in the mass spectrometer, then mass spectrometry might be used to characterize these low molecular weight oligomers.When poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is heated in the source of a mass spectrometer, cyclic oligomers from the dimer through the hexamer are observed. Since the predominant solvent extractable oligomer present in PET is the cyclic trimer, a thorough investigation was made of its mass spectrum to determine the mechanism of ion fragmentation. The information from this investigation was used to identify the other cyclic oligomers produced. An attempt was made to determine the mechanism of formation of the cyclic oligomers by comparing spectra of extracted PET and PET with benzoate capped end groups, but the results were inconclusive because of the improbability of removing all hydroxyl ends.
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