Substituent effects in mass spectrometry—II. The effect of substituents on the dissociation of para and meta disubstituted benzenes

The effect of substituents on the activation energy for primary dissociation processes in the molecular ions of mono- and para and meta di-substituted benzenes has been examined. Where the daughter ion retains the substituent group, variation of the energy of activation derives from a combination of the effects of substituents on the ionisation potential of the molecular ion and the appearance potential of the daughter ion. An equation relating the energy of activation for the fragmentation of the molecular ion of a mono-substituted benzene to that of related para and meta di-substituted benzenes is presented.