Molecular and fragment ion structure for ortho- and meta-xylene isomers

Metastable peak characteristics have been applied to study the fragmentation behaviour of the molecular ions and the high intensity fragment ions of the ortho- and meta-xylene isomers after electron impact. Metastable peaks for the fragmentation of ions generated by field ionization have also been studied.

The kinetic energy released (T) is calculated for the decomposition of molecular and fragment ions of the two isomers in the first and second field-free regions. It is also found that the T-values are life-time independent.