This renewal grant in Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry provides support for the research of Dr. Thomas Morton, University of California, Riverside. The work focuses on the identification of neutral products in reactions between ions and molecules. Understanding this component of such reactions is extremely important as these reactions are among the most fundamental in organic chemistry. More specifically, reactions of positively charged organic ions in the gas phase are examined using the Electron Bombardment Flow (EBFlow) reactor along with more conventional techniques (FTMS and MIKES). Four areas will be studied: (1) Saytzeff vs Hoffmann products from deprotonation of tertiary carbocations, (2) structure and reactivity of monofluorinated carbocation, (3) structure and reactivity of vinylic cations, and (4) restricted Hartree-Fock calculations on closed shell cations. Neutral products will be analyzed by GCMS and NMR.
