Protonated molecules of a variety of benzyl diethers, diesters and ether-esters, produced by chemical ionization (CI), undergo a unique rearrangement yielding relatively abundant m/z 181 C 14 H 13+ ions, both in the ion source and under collision-induced dissociation (CID) conditions. This highly general rearrangement involves an intramolecular C–C bond formation between the two benzyl groups, and the resulting C 14 H 13+ ions have been ...