Etude par Spectrométrie de Masse de la Fragmentation d'une Série de Diols Aliphatiques

The mass spectrometric fragmentation of a series of diols having the general formula HO? (CH₂)_n? OH with n = 2-11 has been studied. Extensive labelling of n-butane-1,4 diol and n-hexane-1,6 diol with deuterium allows fragmentation modes to be proposed. The labelling reveals that intramolecular exchange of H atoms often precedes the fragmentation and becomes more important when the length of the chain increases.