Fragmentation of molecular tributyltin chloride

Fragmentation of tributyltin chloride (TBTCl) vapour has been studied experimentally by means of time-of-flight mass spectrometry at the photon energy range of 9–25 eV of synchrotron radiation, at 21.22 eV of HeI as well as with 500 eV electron beam excitation. Branching ratios of the tributyltin chloride fragments taken with HeI and synchrotron radiation have been presented first time. Calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) were carried out for TBTCl and the ionization energies obtained were used to predict the dissociation pathways creating the observed ions.