Mass spectrometry studies of organometallic compounds: Part 1. Compounds of general formula PhnGeCl4-n

The mass spectra of organogermanium compounds of the type PhnGeCl4‐n (where n = 1–4) were investigated. Positive and negative ion spectra of these compounds were recorded using conventional electron impact (EI) conditions. In common with the analogous tetra‐alkyltin compound, Ph4Ge produced no negative ion spectra under these conditions. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS–MS) was used to deduce fragmetation reaction pathways for these compounds. In the case of PhGeCl3, collision‐induced dissociation studies were extended to examine the ion–molecule reactions under relatively high reactant pressures of methanol and/or water vapour in the collision cell of the MS–MS instrument.