Scaling law for the partitioning of energy in fragmenting multicharged carbon clusters

The ionization of a molecule into a molecular ion inside the mass spectrometer causes instability in the molecule's structure due to the loss of an electron. This eventually leads to the fragmentation or breaking of some bonds in the molecule. The fragmentation occurs predominantly at specific bonds to yield relatively stable fragments.
One type of fragmentation pattern is the cleavage of a single bond in the molecular ion. The cleavage leads to a radical and a cation. The cleavage can occur at...

The molecular ions of linear alkanes prefer to fragment at the carbon-carbon bond away from the end of the chain since the cleavage of an inner bond creates a stable carbocation and a stable radical. Consequently, the mass signals of linear alkanes feature intense peaks in the middle of the mass-to-charge ratio plot with weaker peaks on either end. The fragmentation of each carbon-carbon bond with the release of a methyl group in each splitting leads to prominent peaks in the mass spectra...

The fragmentation patterns observed for compounds such as carboxylic acids, esters, and amides in the mass spectra include ⍺-cleavage and McLafferty rearrangement. Fragmentation by ⍺-cleavage preferentially occurs at the carbon-carbon bond at the ⍺-position next to the carboxylic group to generate a neutral radical and a cation. Long chain compounds with hydrogen at their γ-carbon undergo McLafferty rearrangement to give a radical cation and a neutral alkene.
For example, the fragmentation of...

This lesson delves into the mass spectrometry of branched alkane fragmentation. Branched alkanes possess secondary or tertiary carbon atoms, which generate relatively stable carbocations if the cleavage occurs at the branching point. The high stability of carbocations drives the instant fragmentation of branched alkanes. Accordingly, the branched alkane's molecular ion peak is very weak or invisible in the mass spectra, especially in comparison to a linear alkane.

In mass spectrometry, cycloalkanes exhibit distinct fragmentation patterns due to the inherent stability of their molecular ions compared to linear or branched alkanes. The ring structure of cycloalkanes provides additional stability to the molecular ions, often resulting in prominent ion peaks in the mass spectrum.
For example, cyclohexane molecular ions have a mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of 84, which tends to produce a stronger signal than linear alkanes like hexane. This stability comes from...

Alkenes lose one electron from the unsaturated π bond upon ionization and form stable molecular ions. Further fragmentation of alkenes occurs through three different reaction pathways. The most prominent fragmentation is the cleavage at the allylic position. The resultant allylic carbocation is resonance stabilized. In the mass spectra of terminal alkenes, this fragment appears at a mass-to-charge ratio of 41. In the internal alkenes, where there are two choices of allylic cleavage, the...