A Study of C5H10 radical cations by collisionally activated dissociation,charge stripping,and low energy ion-molecule reactions

C₅H₁₀ radical cations generated from a variety of olefins and cycloalkanes were investigated by collisionally activated dissociation, charge stripping, and low energy ion-molecule reactions. It has been determined that all of the isomers studied can be distinguished by charge stripping, whereas collisionally activated dissociation and the ion-molecule reactions are less informative. The radical cations from cyclopentane, methylcyclobutane and substituted cyclopropanes retain their cyclic structures for at least a fraction of the population having lifetimes in the microsecond range.