Electron impact ionisation cross-sections of 2-heptanone

The electron impact ionisation of 2-heptanone between 13 and 78 eV is studied using mass spectrometry. CH3C(O)CH2CH2CH2CH2CH3+ and fragment ions are produced with a total cross-section of 5 × 10−16 cm2 towards 50 eV. Two ions, identified as CH3CO+ (43 amu) and CH3C(OH)CH2+ (58 amu), contribute to about 60% of the total cross-section for electron energies above the ionisation threshold. The detected ions are identified using ab initio calculations. For E = 14 eV, the ion of 58 amu is the most abundant followed by an ion of 59 amu identified as being CH3C(OH)CH3+; they result from a bond cleavage with one or two H atom rearrangements. For E ≥ 48 eV, the ion of 43 amu is the most abundant; it results from an α-cleavage reaction in the molecular ion.