Kinetics and mechanisms of the decompositions of the molecular ions of pentanal and its monomethyl-substituted homologues in the picosecond to microsecond time interval following field ionization

Abstract

The kinetics of decomposition of pentanal and its monomethyl homologues, including hexanal, have been studied as a function of time following field ionisation (FI). With the aid of these results and other energetic measurements, the McLafferty rearrangement in the case of hexanal is shown to occur by a stepwise mechanism.