By using deuterium labelled compounds and collisional activation spectra the mechanism of the unusually intensive HCl elimination from 2-(β-chloroalkyl)benzoic acid methyl ester as well as the structure of the product ion have been elucidated. It can be shown that the structure of the stable ion (lifetime τ～10?5 s) is best represented by 2-vinyl benzoic acid methyl ester whereas the reactive ion (lifetime τ<10?6 s) at least partially rearranges to a cyclic ion. The hydrogen chloride elimination from 2-(β-chloroalkyl)benzoic acid is apparently a simple 1,2 process. A closer examination reveals that the reaction represents a further example of an unusual neighbouring group participation of the ester function.
