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C4H6O2; Atmospheric chemistry; Carboxylic acids; Chemical ionization; Collision-induced dissociation; Density functional theory
Abstract:
A variety of mass spectrometric methods and complementary theoretical calculations are used to assess the potential contributions of C4H6O2 isomers to the m/z=87 ion found in a recent atmospheric field study (Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 223/224 (2003) 733). The analysis of high- and low-energy collision experiments suggests that a ca. 1:1:1 mixture of crotonic acid, vinylacetic acid, and methyl acrylate can account for the experimental findings in the field study. For a more concise assessment, further field studies using complementary approaches for the characterization of atmospheric trace components are recommended.