Decomposition of Organometallic Complexes in the Mass Spectrometer

The reliable interpretation of mass spectra for the determination of molecular constitutions requires systematic studies on the fragmentation behavior of classes of compounds, since the large number of kinetic and energy parameters that determine the decomposition of excited polyatomic ions makes ab‐initio predictions of spectra almost impossible. In this progress report, a number of general rules for the decomposition of organometallic complexes upon electron impact are discussed; a classification into decomposition types is also presented, and is illustrated by selected examples.