BRAINCAKEMass Spectrum Example 2
Example 2: propanal and propanone
Propanal, CH3CH2CHO, and propanone, CH3COCH3, are structural isomers with the formula C3H6O. Both have Mr = 58, so both show a molecular ion peak at m/z 58. The molecular ion alone cannot tell them apart, but their fragment peaks can.
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Key terms in this lesson
- molecular ion
- The positive ion formed when a whole molecule loses an electron in a mass spectrometer, giving a peak at the molecule's relative molecular mass.
- base peak
- The tallest peak in a mass spectrum, corresponding to the most abundant, most stable fragment ion.
More in Mass Spectrometry
- Mass Spectrometry
- The Molecular Ion Peak
- Other Peaks
- Fragmentation
- Mass Spectrum Example 1
- Mass Spectrum Example 3
- Mass Spectrum Example 4
- Mass Spectrum Example 5
All 9 lessons in Mass Spectrometry · All Edexcel AS-level Chemistry topics