Abstract
The mass spectra of α-, β- and γ-tocopherols (I) are characterized by the absence of numerous fragmentation processes. Ion intensities, but not the reaction pathways, are strongly dependent on temperature. Principal fragment ions are formed (a) by cleavage through the nonaromatic portion of the chromanol ring both with and without hydrogen transfer and (b) via loss of the isoprenoid side chain. For (a) occurring with hydrogen transfer, ion-kinetic energies favor a tropylium ion structure for the daughter ion. Loss of ketene from the molecular ions of α- and β-tocopherol acetates producing the molecular ion of the corresponding tocopherol is the dominant process.
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Taken in part from the Ph.D. thesis of Charles J. Rudolph, Jr.
Journal article No. 2335 of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station.
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Scheppele, S.E., Mitchum, R.K., Rudolph, C.J. et al. Mass spectra of tocopherols. Lipids 7, 297–304 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02532647
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02532647