Empirical approach for predicting mass spectra

  • #1
Spathi
76
7
TL;DR Summary
I know about the McLafferty rearrangement and the migration of the double bond; maybe there are some other such well-known rearrangements?
One of ways of predicting a mass spectrum of a new molecule is to run a semi-empirical BOMD computation where the molecule is ionized, gets a big energy and starts dissociating. However, I suppose that in many cases a better approach is using some empirical knowledge about the molecule.
I plan to implement a program where you can specify the structure of your molecule, then type the position of a peak in your mass spectrum, and the program will enumerate all possible fragment ions which can produce this peak. One approach is to exclude all rearrangement ions. However, I suppose that the rearrangement ions occur in the mass spectrums quite oftenly. What are the most typical types of rearrangements in the mass spectrum? I know about the McLafferty rearrangement and the migration of the double bond; maybe there are some other such well-known rearrangements?
I am thinking of implementing the following algorithm for checking possible ions. Consider you have this molecule:

1719117849229.png

The program will enumerate all pairs of bonds, remove these bonds and see possible structures obtained via the re-unition of the fragments. For example, when it removes the C1-C11 and C4-C21 bonds, these recombination fragments will be possible:

1719118027807.png

1719118048104.png

1719118081037.png

Would such approach be useful for chemists dealing with mass spectrometry?
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

  • Biology and Chemistry Homework Help
Replies
1
Views
5K
  • Biology and Chemistry Homework Help
Replies
6
Views
5K
  • Beyond the Standard Models
Replies
10
Views
2K
Replies
26
Views
8K
  • Other Physics Topics
Replies
0
Views
803
Replies
6
Views
5K
Replies
24
Views
7K
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
Replies
2
Views
4K
  • MATLAB, Maple, Mathematica, LaTeX
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • MATLAB, Maple, Mathematica, LaTeX
Replies
5
Views
2K
Back
Top