Role of Internal Energy in Mass Spectrometric Fragmentation

Abstract

The internal energy of an ion has a very large effect on the appearance of the mass spectrum. The first part of the paper describes the theoretical background: the reaction rate theory and the calculation of ion abundances from reaction rates. The effect of the reaction timescale, the degree-offreedom effect and the breakdown curve is discussed. Finally, typical internal energy distributions in electron impact, metastable ions, collision induced fragmentations are shown.