The molecular ion peak is usually weak, however, larger than for alcohols.
An important fragmentation process for alcohols involves the cleavage of the C-C bond to the a-carbon as shown in figure 28.
Figure 28. Cleavage of the C-C bond to the a-carbon.
A second common mode of fragmentation involves cleavage of the C-O bond (see figure 29).
Figure 29. Cleavage of the C-O bond of an ether.
Hydride transfer from a b-carbon is an important rearrangement process in ethers as shown in figure 30.
Figure 30. Rearrangement of an ether.
Peaks usually occur in CnH2nOH+ increments for ethers.
The complete mass spectrum for n-butyl ether is given in figure 31, which illustrates most of these points.
Figure 31. Mass spectrum for n-butyl ether.
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