Editing Mass spectrum (section)

{{Short description|Tool in chemical analysis}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

A '''mass spectrum''' is a [[histogram]] plot of intensity vs. ''[[mass-to-charge ratio]]'' (''m/z'') in a chemical sample,<ref>{{GoldBookRef|title=mass spectrum|file= M03749}}</ref> usually acquired using an instrument called a ''[[mass spectrometer]]''. Not all mass spectra of a given substance are the same; for example, some mass spectrometers break the analyte molecules into ''[[fragmentation (mass spectrometry)|fragments]]''; others observe the intact molecular masses with little fragmentation. A mass spectrum can represent many different types of information based on the type of mass spectrometer and the specific experiment applied. Common fragmentation processes for organic molecules are the ''[[McLafferty rearrangement]]'' and ''[[alpha cleavage]]''. Straight chain alkanes and alkyl groups produce a typical series of peaks: 29 (CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup>), 43 (CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup>), 57 (CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup>), 71 (CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup>) etc.<ref name="isbn0-935702-25-3">{{cite book |author=Turecek, František |author2=McLafferty, Fred W. |title=Interpretation of mass spectra |url=https://archive.org/details/interpretationma00mcla_866 |url-access=limited |publisher=University Science Books |location=Sausalito, Calif |date=1993 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/interpretationma00mcla_866/page/n237 226]- |isbn=0-935702-25-3 }}</ref>