| Abstract: | Mass spectra of 2-hydroxydiphenylmethane and its derivatives are characterized in the upper mass region by an abundant ion m/z 165. Metastable ion measurements reveal that this ion is formed from the molecular ion of the parent compound by elimination of H2O and hydrogen. A fluorenyl cation structure is proposed for this ion on the basis of identity of collision induced mass analyzed ion kinetic energy spectra of ion m/z 165 generated from 2-hydroxydiphenylmethane and from fluorene. Four different pathways of formation of a fluorenyl cation are discussed. The contribution of each of these to the genesis of fragment m/z 165 was monitored in a reversed geometry instrument by measuring the first fragmentation in the first field free region and the second fragmentation in the second field free region. |
