The mass spectra of six fluorinated β-diketones and their monothio analogues

The mass spectra of the fluorinated β-diketones RCOCH₂COCF₃ (R = Ph, p-FC₆H₄, p-ClC₆H₄, p-BrC₆H₄, p-MeC₆H₄ and 2-thienyl) and their monothio analogues RC(SH)?CHCOCF₃ have been obtained. The replacement of one oxygen by sulphur in the β-diketones brings about a greater complexity in the mass spectra. The β-diketones fragment by first losing a ·CF₃ radical and then successively lose CH₂?C?O and CO to yield \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}${\rm R}\mathop {\rm C}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm = O]} $\end{document} and R]⁺. The monothio-β-diketones also fragment by an analogous reaction pathway: viz. the initial loss of ·CF₃ is followed by the successive loss of CH₂?C?O and CS to yield \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}${\rm R}\mathop {\rm C}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm = S]} $\end{document} and R]⁺. However, they also fragment by two other pathways involving the initial loss of ·H and ·X (X=F, Cl, Br, Me), the latter occurring only with those monothio-β-diketones having R=p-XC₆H₄.