Partial ionisation cross-sections of 2-propanol and ethanal

Electron impact ionisation of 2-propanol and ethanal is studied using mass spectrometry. Cross-sections of the formation of molecular ions and ionic fragments are measured between 14 and 86 eV. Free energy changes are evaluated using ab initio calculations. For 2-propanol, two ions, identified as CH3CHOH+ (45 amu) and CH3CHCH3+ (43 amu), contribute more than 75% to the total cross-section over the whole range of electron energies and are produced by simple bond cleavage in the molecular ion. Both processes occur spontaneously, leaving the molecular ion as a minority species. For ethanal, two ions, identified as HCO+ (29 amu) and CH3CO+ (43 amu), and the molecular ion (44 amu) contribute more than 80% to the total cross-section. The ions of 29 and 43 amu result from a simple bond cleavage in the molecular ion. These sprocesses are not spontaneous and the contribution of the molecular ion becomes predominant at 15 eV and is therefore significant over the whole range of ionisation energies.