The unimolecular dissociation of protonated phenyl ethers formed by chemical ionization

A series of phenyl ethers with cyclic and acyclic olefins has been observed to form proton-bound complexes on protonation under chemical ionization conditions with methane as the reagent gas. The competitive dissociations of these complexes have been studied by ion kinetic energy spectrometry and the measured branching ratios have been correlated with the relative stabilities of the product species.