Charge participation in the fragmentation of functionalized steroids.

A series of steroidal model compounds specifically designed to allow maximal as well as minimal charge localization at certain functional groups was subjected to mass spectrometric analysis. The results indicate that electron deficiency at the potentially reactive site is a prequisite for any fragmentation reaction to occur to an appreciable extent. The amount of charge density required at such a site seems to vary substantially for different types of fragmentation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]