[C7H7] radicals studied by neutralization reionization mass spectrometry; the ortho-tolyl to benzyl radical rearrangement

The collision-induced dissociation characteristics of the benzyl, tropyl and tolyl cations which serve to identify these C₇H₇]⁺ isomers (the m/z 74–77 relative abundances) were not preserved in their neutralization-reionization (NR) mass spectra. However, analyses of mixtures of the C₇H₇]⁺ isomers made by comparison of NR mass spectra gave similar results to those obtained from collisional activation (CA) mass spectra. The radicals produced by electron transfer from Xe to tolyl cations were not observed to rearrange to benzyl radicals on the time-scale of the NR experiment, a result in conflict with other gas-phase studies.