In a mass spectrometry lab, I was given a set of data for anunknown compound whi

Question

In a mass spectrometry lab, I was given a set of data for anunknown compound which produced different intensities and differentmass charges. By analyzing the data I found that the unknowncompound was 1,2-dichloroethane:
      Cl   H       |      | H - C - C - H       |      |      H    Cl I now have to find how this structure is supposed to fragment.How am I supposed to figure this out? How do you know what breaksoff of the structure? In a mass spectrometry lab, I was given a set of data for anunknown compound which produced different intensities and differentmass charges. By analyzing the data I found that the unknowncompound was 1,2-dichloroethane:
      Cl   H       |      | H - C - C - H       |      |      H    Cl I now have to find how this structure is supposed to fragment.How am I supposed to figure this out? How do you know what breaksoff of the structure?

Explanation / Answer

Hmmm, could you tell us what kind of data you were given and howyou used it to determine the molecule's identity? If you weregiven mass-to-charge ratios, then I believe you should be able tofigure out the fragment structures by trial and error. Forexample, the entire molecule is 98.96 g. Most likely one ofthe peaks on the spectra will be at 98-99 indicating the entiremolecule was singly charged. The molecule will also probablyfragment down the C-C bond to produce a peak at about 50, and itmay fragment to produce the molecule without a chlorine with a peakaround 63-64. The data will also depend on if your mass speccan place more than one charge on a fragment.

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