The mass spectra of a variety of propiolate, acetylenedicarboxylate, maleate, fumarate and cyanoacetate esters have been measured. The formation of ions via the elimination of carbon dioxide (with or without the associated loss of other groups) is quite common in these esters. The prevalence of such fragmentation processes, which are of obvious importance with respect to the element-mapping technique, is probably associated with the presence ...
