The water elimination from the ethyl acetate radical cation — Answers from theory to a longstanding mechanistic problem

Previous experimental studies of the water elimination from ionized ethyl acetate (EA-1) and its enol, CH 2 =C(OH)OC 2 H 5 ·+ (EA-2), provide no mechanistic proposals, but note that the reaction is complex because all hydrogen atoms and both oxygen atoms participate. Loss of H 2 O is the predominant process observed for the metastable ions, yielding ionized methyl vinyl ketone, CH 3 C(=O)CH=CH 2 ·+ (MVK), as the product ion. Metastable …