Isotope Patterns in Mass Spectra
Elements with abundant heavy isotopes produce clusters whose intensity ratios follow a binomial expansion over the number of those atoms: chlorine gives M:M+2 near 3:1, bromine near 1:1, two chlorines 9:6:1, and sulfur a diagnostic M+2 of about 4.4%. The pattern identifies which heteroatoms are present before any fragment is rationalized.
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Elements with abundant heavy isotopes produce clusters whose intensity ratios follow a binomial expansion over the number of those atoms: chlorine gives M:M+2 near 3:1, bromine near 1:1, two chlorines 9:6:1, and sulfur a diagnostic M+2 of about 4.4%. The pattern identifies which heteroatoms are present before any fragment is rationalized.
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