DECOMPOSITION OF 1-(2-THIENYL)ALKYLALKANONES UNDER ELECTRON-IMPACT

The major fragmentation paths of the 1‐(2‐thienyl)alkylalkanones ionized by electron impact are delineated by means of isotopically labeled molecules, metastable ion peaks and low ionization voltage data. A prominent process is cleavage of the bond beta to the carbonyl group with the concurrent rearrangement of a hydrogen atom. Another important process is cleavage alpha to the carbonyl group to produce the thienoylium ion analogous to the benzoylium ion. As expected, the data show that increasing the chain length by two methylene groups increases the total ion current. The bulk of this increase is found in the increased ion current of the rearrangement ion with the remainder being associated with alkyl fragments and oxygenated ion species. Copyright © 1969 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.