Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry
m/z
(mass-to-charge ratio):
In
mass spectrometry
the ratio of an
ion's
mass (
m
) in
atomic mass units
(
amu
) to its
formal charge
(
z
).
Formal charge
is usually +1. The units for
m/z
are usually not included.
Fragmentation
CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
+
+
Molecular ion
Fragments
Formula
= C
5
H
12
O
Mass = 88
amu
Charge
= +1
m/z
= 88
Formula
= C
3
H
7
Mass = 43
amu
Charge
= +1
m/z
= 43
Formula
= C
2
H
5
O
Mass = 45
amu
Charge
= +1
m/z
= 45
Related terms:
M
,
M+1
,
M+2
,
radical cation
,
nitrogen rule
,
nominal mass
,
high resolution mass spectrometry
,
exact mass
,
electron impact ionization
,
E
I
,
chemical ionization
,
CI
,
MALDI
,
gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
,
GC-MS
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