Negative ion mass spectra of salicylaldehydato and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthylaldehydato complexes of Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II): Consecutive and competitive eliminations of CO and H2CO

The negative ion mass spectra of some divalent metal complexes, ML₂, have been measured, where M?Co, Ni and Cu, and LH = salicylaldehyde or 2-hydroxy-1-naphthylaldehyde. All compounds yield intense molecular anions. The mass spectra of these compounds suggest that consecutive and competitive eliminations of CO and H₂CO, and various types of hydrogen migrations are involved in the fragmentation of the molecular anions. The mechanism of the fragmentation process and metastable peaks observed are also discussed.