Assigning structures to [C2H3O]+ ions

Abstract The problem of assigning structures to [C 2 H 3 O] + ions produced from a wide variety of precursor molecules has been readdressed. The identification of the acetyl cation, $$ {\rm{CH}}_{\rm{3}} \mathop {\rm{C}}\limits^{\rm{ + }} = {\rm{O}} $$ , from metastable peak characteristics and collisional activation mass spectra appears to be straightforward. The structure $$ {\rm{CH}}_{\rm{2}} = \mathop {\rm{C}}\limits^{\rm{ + }} - {\rm{OH}} $$ is also known to exist as a stable ion. A third ion, whose structure may be represented as $$ \mathop {\rm{C}}\limits^{\rm{ + }} {\rm{H}}_{\rm{2}} {\rm{CHO}} $$ or magnified image has also been characterized.