Ionization and appearance potentials in organic chemistry. I—energetic aspects of the mass spectra of stereoisomeric 4-substituted N-alkyl-2-methyldecahydroquinol-4-ols

The ionization potentials for the stereoisomers of trans-fused 1,2-dimethyl- and 1-ethyl-2-methyl-4-R-decahydroquinol-4-ols (R?C?CH, CH?CH₂ or C₂H₅) and the appearance potentials for the M–CH₃]⁺ and M–C₂H₅]⁺ ions (loss of 2-CH₃ and 4-C₂H₅ groups potential, respectively) were measured by using the electron impact method. The ionization and appearance potential for M–CH₃]⁺ are always lower for the isomers with the axial 2-CH₃ group. For the C-2 epimers, the difference between the appearance potentials for the M–CH₃]⁺ ion values is likely to be equal to the enthalpy differences between the ground states of the epimers and the dissociation energy differences between the axial and equatorial C₂–CH₃ bonds. The appearance potentials for M–C₂H₅]⁺ for the C-4 epimers possessing the 4-C₂H₅ group were very similar. At the same time, the appearance potentials for the M–CH₃]⁺ ions were lower for less stable epimers which had an axial 4-C₂H₅ group.