The Dichotomy of Methyl Loss from 2-Methylalkane Molecular Ions

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/oms.1210200106

The kinetic energy release for methyl loss from the molecular ion of 2-methylpentane increases c. twofold over the time-range 1-15 μs.This results from a mixture of secondary and tertiary pentyl cations.The appearance energy showed that at threshold (and long times) only tertiary ions are formed.The molecular ion of 2-methylhexane produces tertiary hexyl ions by loss of methyl at threshold, but in the μs time-frame only secondary hexyl ions appear to be formed, because the kinetic energy release is small and independent of the observation time.