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Electron Ionization

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Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The use of electron ionization (EI) [1] dates back to the infancy of mass spectrometry in the early 20th century. Ionization is effected by shooting energetic electrons onto a neutral that must have been transferred into the gas phase before. EI definitely is the classical approach to ionization in organic mass spectrometry, and only the production of ions in electrical discharges and by thermal ionization (TI) of inorganic salts have earlier been in use. [2] Nevertheless, EI still represents an important technique for the analysis of low- to medium-polarity, non-ionic organic compounds in the range of molecular weights up to M r ≈ 1000. Until recent years, EI has been termed electron impact ionization or simply electron impact (EI).

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  1. Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Dr. Jürgen H. Gross

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Gross, J.H. (2004). Electron Ionization. In: Mass Spectrometry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-36756-X_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-36756-X_5

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