| Abstract: | Real-time analysis of alkylketenes synthesized by flash vacuum thermolysis (FVT) of acid chlorides has been performed by mass spectrometric techniques using a triple sector (E/B/E) spectrometer. The major high energy reactions of the molecular ions consist of β-cleavages relative to the C?C bond of the ketene function, followed by decarbonylation. The unimolecular reactions of the metastable molecular ions are often different as shown by collisional activation of the fragment ions produced in a field-free region of the spectrometer and also from estimated heats of formation. |
