Investigations of oxonium ions
Abstract
Isotopically labelled methanol was used in an investigation of the ion–molecule reactions of methanol in the gas phase using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. A quinqua quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to investigate the formation of trimethyl oxonium ions. The results were used to examine the validity of the alternative mechanisms for the reaction (1) that have been CH3OH2++ CH3OH →(CH3)2OH++ H2O (1) proposed in the literature. The results provide unequivocal support for the SN2 mechanism.